


Eureka Kats

by gatekat, KarlWolfemann



Category: Eureka, SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron
Genre: Anthropomorphic, BDSM, Dom/sub Play, F/M, Fantasy, Furry, Kinky, M/M, Masturbation, Minor Character Death, Murder, Parent/Child Incest, Sexual Violence, Snuff, Torture, Voyeurism, Werewolves, Xenophilia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-09-27
Updated: 2007-06-17
Packaged: 2017-11-26 18:09:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 30
Words: 393,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/653004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gatekat/pseuds/gatekat, https://archiveofourown.org/users/KarlWolfemann/pseuds/KarlWolfemann
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>SWAT Kats/Eureka crossover<br/>Jake/Chance, Lupo/Taggart, others<br/>When the week is just too peaceful in the little Pacific Northwest town of Eureka, Sheriff Carter's worst fears come true in a way he always refused to believe was possible.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. One of Those Days

**Author's Note:**

> Written from a Eureka perspective.

"I don't like it," Sheriff Carter muttered as he leaned back in his chair early one morning. "Too quiet lately." The lack of answer only emphasized his statement; Jo was out, taking care of a minor fender-bender on Archimedes Avenue.

And that was the biggest problem in Eureka in the past week.

No impending nuclear disasters. No rips in space-time. No clones or mysterious time-displaced scientists. Nobody suddenly developing the ability to regenerate or accidentally shoot him with their mind. Not even the little things that usually cropped up, that _should_ have cropped up with a city full of neurotic egg-heads living in close proximity. Hell, even _Zoe_ had managed to stay out of trouble... mostly.

While he would normally have celebrated a full week without any serious trouble, especially from Zoe, it bothered him here.

It made him wonder just what the universe was saving up for.

In LA, that might have been a serial murderer or top ten escapee.

Around here, where a normal week could destroy the world, he really didn't want to contemplate it. Yet this week gave him nothing but time to contemplate it.

"Just let it be something simple," he murmured to himself. "Nice and normal... maybe somebody steals a super-car, or someone at Global decides to frankenstein Ramirez, Bundy, and Dahmer together for kicks... that could be kinda interesting, really," he mused, as his walkie-talkie squawked.

"Sheriff Carter, this is Jo, over?"

"This is Carter; what's up, Jo?" He asked after pulling it from his belt and keying it up. "Over," he added after a moment of silence.

"A dragon and non-regulation fighter jet just appeared over Henry's garage, over."

There was a moment of silence as he wondered if, really, he would've preferred the Frankenstein's Serial Killer.

"I'll be over there in a few minutes, Jo," he sighed, grabbing his coat and heading out to the car. This was going to be one of those days.

He tried not to think about it too much, or the headache the techobabble answers were going to cause him, as he drove the short distance. Even if he hadn't known where to go, he could see the giant red creature hovering in Eureka's sky.

"Whoever created that is a dead man," he muttered under his breath as he drove and watched the arial combat between red dragon and black jet.

"Okay, is that in _anybody's_ registry?" He asked his deputy as he pulled up near Henry's garage. "The jet, of course. Not one I recognize."

"Unless it's Section 5, it's not even one of ours," she shrugged.

"If it was Section 5, Stark would be out here with binoculars and a batch of Congressmen," Carter muttered. "Okay, so next question is _what_ are a dragon and an unknown fighter jet doing here?"

"Having a dogfight," she said drolly.

"I can _see_ that," he said irritably. "Any idea on how to get them to _stop_ ?"

She grinned and turned to her SUV without a word, popped the truck and pulled out something strongly resembling a personal SAM.

"Okay, I know I'm the one who asked, so I suppose I should've seen that coming," Carter admitted. "But what if one of them's friendly? Or at least doesn't not like us _before_ you shoot it with a missile?"

"We have no means to communicate with them, no hint of their intentions and they are not of this planet," she pointed out calmly.

"You weren't out watching more alien invasion movies with Spencer again, were you?" He asked, then shook his head. "So, what, first contact procedures is to shoot 'em down?" He asked, only half-joking.

"Actually, outside Eureka first contact procedures would be to shoot them down, isolate the area, and meet them with a CDC unit in haz-mat suits backed up by the military. It goes on from there, but I don't think you really want to hear that just now," Jo said smoothly, getting a good lock on the unknown fighter.

"You're right," he muttered and watched as the fighter launched a series of missiles of its own, sending the giant flying creature down in flames to crash into the forest.

Somehow, he just knew he was going to be filing reports all night on this one... and that there would be some _very_ specific reports that needed to be filed that existed for just this situation.

"I don't suppose there's _any_ way ...." he was cut off by the shoulder mounted rocket launcher firing and winced. If she didn't bring that thing down in this shot, they were going to be in _so_ much trouble. He flicked a glance at her when Jo cursed, the strange black jet dodging the missile with too much ease and came around to face them, hovering in the air several hundred yards up. 

Carter could almost hear the debate going on in that cockpit. What weapon to take them down with, what kind of damage to do to the area in retaliation for being attacked.

In the end, he decided that there really wasn't anything else to do. He grabbed the launcher from Jo, tossing the spent tube to the ground and picking up his walkie-talkie, quietly praying they might just happen to be on the right radio frequency.

That they quite possibly didn't speak English was something they could deal with later.

"Please don't open fire; my deputy was just a little trigger happy," he said as calmly as he could. The look he got from Jo told him that he would _definitely_ be hearing about this for the rest of the day.

Assuming they were there to argue about it.

The jet continued to hover, far longer than it would take to decide to just kill them. It was the best news of the morning.

He was about to say something more when the sound of Henry's tow truck driving up caught his attention and he had to debate whether that was a good thing or not.

"Carter, what are you doing?" Henry asked, almost sounding amused as he leaned out the window of his truck.

"Trying to prevent what could be our first interstellar incident, Henry," he answered, as if that should be the most obvious thing in the world.

"Jo shot at it," Henry smiled at her. "You're sure it's not terrestrial?"

"Jo doesn't even recognize it," Carter pointed out. "I don't suppose you have an idea on how to communicate with them?"

"Oh, yeah. Right in the garage." Henry grinned and drove the truck up to where it usually parked and headed inside.

"Now we just hope that whatever he has doesn't look dangerous until it works," Carter muttered as a line of distinctive black cars drove up, along with Taggart's truck. "Just what we need."

"What ...." Allison demanded as she got out of the lead car with Stark.

"Don't ask, I don't know." Carter cut her off with a shake of his head.

"Alien aircraft shot down a dragon," Jo supplied as everyone stared at the jet staring back at them.

"Have you tried communicating?" Allison asked, very conscious of the SWAT unit deploying around them.

"I managed enough that they didn't blows us up over Jo's attempt to blow them up," Carter said and let out a sigh of relief when Henry came out of the garage with a small object.

"Okay, this is a universal translator," Henry explained as he gave the small device to Carter. "It interprets the brain patterns of who you're talking to, detects patterns that are related to certain universal concepts, and translates them into English along with supplied grammar cues."

"Okay... just how universal is this thing?"

"Well, it'll translate anything on Earth. Haven't had the chance to try it with somebody who wasn't at least _that_ local before."

"Great. Well, no time like the present ... 'can you understand me?'" He asked through the walkie-talkie and translator both, hoping to get them to land before things got _very_ interesting.

"Since when has trusting the law been a _good_ idea?" A deep male voice came out of the translator.

"Since we're no longer on the top ten most wanted list," a lighter male voice answered him.

"She _shot_ us."

"Maybe she's never seen a jet before?" the lighter voiced male suggested. "You saw how Queen Callista's forces reacted to the TurboKat."

"Thought she was some kind of dragon," the deeper voice chuckled in remembered amusement.

"Just land, T-Bone. If that's the best they have, they won't be any worse than the Enforcers to get away from."

"All right, Razor. Your call. But I better not get shot this time."

"Stark, can you get these guys to stand down? Might be a good first gesture." Carter suggested as the jet came down for an expert VTOL landing.

"I think first gestures are already pretty well screwed up, Carter," Stark said dryly. "Besides, I _think_ you heard what they said as well as we did; it sounds like they're wanted felons where ever they came from."

"I also heard that they have decided to land instead of blow us all apart," Carter pointed out. "You did see what they did to that dragon, right?"

"I'll be picking up pieces o' that thing for a week, easy," Taggart offered.

Stark thought about it for a moment, but motioned for the SWAT team to lower their guns... they didn't leave though, and didn't really relax.

"If you guys come out, you'll probably want to _not_ be armed," Carter offered, speaking through the translator again and hoping they'd take his advice as the jet's engines powered down. "We've got some nervous people around here; we don't get visitors often."

He could see the pair look at each other inside the cockpit, likely in a silent debate about whether to talk to him or take off and try to disappear.

"Definitely not human," Taggart commented.

"Feline," Jo nodded in agreement.

"They're dressed like people, try to think of them that way," Carter implored the gathering. He had a feeling in his gut that these two could do a level of damage that would shock even Eureka if they got it in their heads to be pissed off.

At the very least, they could do it before anybody managed to _stop_ them.

"Jo... think you could apologize for trying to shoot at 'em?" He asked his deputy, passing over the translator.

"I was following procedure!" She objected sharply.

"Do I have to make that an order?" He asked, pleading with her not to force it to go that way.

She glared at him, then lifted the translator to her mouth as the cockpit slid back. "Look, I'm sorry I shot at you. It's nothing personal."

"That's a first," the big male in the front seat chuckled at his partner. His skin ... fur ... was a honey golden color, with three thick chocolate brown triangular stripes along his lower arms. 

"Yeah," his brownish-red furred partner agreed and jumped to the ground. Except for the large triangular ears, decidedly feline face and tail, he looked pretty human in a blue, red and black flight suit with matching helmet. "Hi!" He called out to the group watching him nervously. "I'm Razor. Where is here?"

He was _definitely_ going to be hearing about this for the rest of the day.

"Eureka, Earth," Carter said easily. "United States. Sorry about that misunderstanding, but -"

"But there are a lot of things here that are highly classified," Stark finished for him. "Including the two of you, pretty soon, I'd imagine."

"I'm Jack Carter," he broke in, praying he could defuse things again before the alien decided to take more offence at the statement that was already clear by the lashing of his tail and somewhat flattened ears. It was the first time he'd wished he'd paid more attention to his wife's pet. It could actually be useful information. "He's Nathan Stark, my deputy Jo Lupo, Allison Blake and don't pay too much attention to the bald psychopath. Taggart's usually harmless."

"Right," Razor regarded them all a bit skeptically. "Look, just leave us alone and we'll be out of your fur as soon as we can."

"You know," Henry piped up, "if you need any help with your bird ... well, I might have some parts handy, and I'd love to get a chance to look at a high-performance jet like that one."

"Razor...." the pilot's voice held a warning tone from where he was still in the jet.

It was enough to make Razor hesitate from his nearly reflexive acceptance from a kindred spirit, but not enough to stop him from eventually walking up to Henry and offering a three-fingered, reddish-brown furred hand. "You design that gadget we're talking through?"

"Yeah," Henry said with an easy smile, shaking Razor's hand. "I could probably get another one put together pretty soon, so you guys would be able to talk around here."

"I think it's safe, Stark, think _now_ you can have 'em stand down?" Carter asked the lean, clearly frustrated bureaucratic scientist under his breath.

"Yes, before T-Bone decides that that one isn't going to stick to orders," Razor motioned towards one sniper some distance away.

Stark glared at the both of them and motioned the commandos to stand down for real. "I will expect a full report on my desk by midnight." He told everyone.

"You always do," Carter pointed out quietly, earning another irritated look before Stark climbed back into his car and drove off behind the troopers.

"We really _are_ sorry about all that," Allison offered to the two felinoids.

"It's not the most unfriendly welcome we've gotten, Ma'am," Razor chuckled. "So what is your rank in this place?"

"Government liaison," Allison said easily. "Eureka's... basically a giant think tank, so you can understand why there was a little concern when you and the creature you were dealing with appeared without warning."

"Dragons are concerning no matter where they show up," he commented with a quirking grin. "And yeah, I can understand."

"What?" Jo stiffened when Razor sniffed at her a bit more closely.

"You smell like one of my partner's old girlfriends," he explained. "Never did get used to having a Kantin around."

"A Kantin?" Jo and Carter both asked, one cautious, the other curious, as Taggart perked up.

"Canine, like I'm feline," he explained, and raised a curious brow at Taggart nearly choking.

"Nothing. Just a bit of a cough," the cryptozoologist wormed out of saying what he had thought. "Are there many races on your world?"

"Two common, one rare and a smattering of others most don't know about," Razor explained.

"Only one officially on this world," Taggart began.

"Don't," Jo glared at him. "Just don't start."

"Well, this _is_ supposed to be Sasquatch country," he pointed out.

"Ooookay... well, how did you guys manage to get here in the first place?" Carter asked Razor. "You can be sure Stark's going to want to hear that one, so...."

"We were fighting the PastMaster and his current pet," he motioned towards the dragon's body. "He was knocked off and we were fighting it when the scenery abruptly changed. I've got a short list of likely causes."

"That radar system of yours pretty much tops it," the pilot pointed out irritably and jumped to the ground now that the hazards had left. "I'm T-Bone, by the way. Not the first time that system's done this to us when something weird happened."

"Yeah," Razor nodded. "Last time it was a lightning strike. There weren't any storms, but with the amount of magic flying around, it could have been it. Could have been a couple other systems too."

"She _does_ smell a bit like Cassidy," T-bond looked at Jo with a little more interest. "Just as gun-crazy too, I bet."

"Not gun _crazy_ ," Jo said, a little defensively, perhaps a little more emphasis on the word 'crazy' than there strictly had to be.

"You _are_ the one who had a shoulder-mounted SAM in the back of her SUV," Carter pointed out with a bit of a smirk.

"I should probably go start collecting bits of that dragon," Taggart said, climbing back into his truck and driving off down the road back towards where the creature had crashed.

"I meant it in a good way," T-Bone smiled winningly at Jo, then turned to Razor and Henry. "So can you geniuses please get to work so we can go home?"

"Any guess how long the repairs and figuring out what it was will take you?" Carter asked them; it was already becoming clear that they'd probably need somewhere to stay; it was just a matter of figuring out how long they'd need it for.

He had a horrible feeling that Zoe was going to want to invite them home once she heard 'cats'.

"Repairs ..." T-bone glanced back at the jet. "She doesn't really _need_ any."

"A couple hours, tops, on that," Razor agreed. "Working out what happened ... somewhere between a few hours and a few weeks."

"You are talking about a guy who got her to run on volcanic gas right from a volcano when we got stuck in prehistoric times," T-bone both joked and bragged about his partner and jet. "We won't be here long."

"Well, if you're looking for somewhere to stay, Henry has the right numbers," he decided. If they'd be heading out in a few hours, after all, no reason to bother Beverly just now. "Good luck getting things set up again."

"Thanks," Razor and T-Bone replied in near-unison and turned to follow Henry to their jet.

"Okay, so... one of us should probably stay out here, at least for a while," he told Jo. "You know anything about the paperwork we're going to have to put together for this?"

"Forms 1274A, 1275A, 1275B and 2003," she replied smoothly. "It should take you until sometime tomorrow at least."

"Take _me_?" he glared at her. "You know I'm lousy at those forms."

"I didn't break with procedures, Sheriff," she pointed out.

"Besides, she's the cute one," T-Bone called out with a wink.

"Just ignore him. He'll try anything with anybody," Razor rolled his eyes. "Sheriff's SUV though," he added in a lower tone to T-Bone.

"If you like that look, I guess," the bigger tom look Carter over again and shrugged.

"Okay... maybe I will go start filling out the paperwork," Carter decided, ignoring the amused look Allison was giving him. "Just ah... don't shoot anybody, okay? Unless you really have to."

"I think we can handle it, Carter." Allison chuckled as he retreated to his SUV and took off.

"Just so you know, she will shoot back without us," Razor commented, mostly to Jo. "Self-protection programs."

"If you're threatened, or if the ship is?" Henry asked curiously from where he was looking the ship over.

"Both," Razor told him simply and opened the bomb bay hatch. "She's our first line of defense and offence in the field, and the second at home."

"So just how sensitive is this thing?" Jo asked with clear displeasure.

"Don't draw on us and you'll be fine," Razor chuckled. "And I take it back. You smell better than his bitch did."

"Unless you give me a reason to, I don't have to," Jo pointed out.

"We didn't exactly give you a reason before other than existing," Razor pointed out with a shrug.

"She's at thirteen years and eight incarnations right now too," T-Bone added with a decidedly possessive tone. Despite not saying anything, he made little secret that he didn't like Henry touching his jet, or that he'd been overruled by his partner.

"You might want to be careful about terms like that, by the way," Allison observed. "Around here, bitch is usually an insult. And don't worry, Henry's one of the best and he'll take good care of your jet," she told T-Bone reassuringly as the middle-aged scientist headed in to fetch his tool kit.

"Is?" Razor blinked, visibly startled and a bit shaken. "I'm sorry," he looked at Jo with his ears sunk and eyes down briefly.

Jo just shrugged as Henry came back out and stuck his head into the bomb bay and froze, then moved his head out, and back in several more times before staring in open shock at Razor. "You created a tesseract inside a jet?"

"It was the only way to carry all our field gear," Razor nodded.

"I can see that, but... _how_ ?" Henry asked. "We don't even have tesseract generators yet... not stable ones, anyways. Certainly not small enough to put 'em into a jet."

"It's not a generator, it's an inherent quality in the material and design," Razor began easily and a bit eagerly to talk to someone he didn't have to hide his brilliance from. Henry not only could follow the conversation, but wouldn't turn him in for it.

T-Bone just rolled his eyes and looked over at Jo. "I don't suppose you have delivery pizza or something here? He'll be at this for _hours_ and it only gets less like language from here."

"We could always place a call to Vincent at the Cafe Diem, though somebody'd have to go get it," Allison mused. "Might want to come up with some unusual ingredients for it though," she chuckled. "He prides himself on doing the unusual."

"What about him?" T-Bond nodded towards the skinny youth standing in the background.

"That's Spencer," Allison said, motioning for him to come up. "Spencer, this is T-Bone, and that's Razor working with Henry. T-Bone, Spencer, Henry's assistant."

"And apprentice," the youth offered. "That's an _incredible_ jet you've got, judging by how he looks at it."

"That she is," T-Bone grinned at him. "So ... tuna, salmon, catnip and sardine pizza?"

"Only half catnip," Razor called at them from inside the bomb bay with Henry. "I need my brain. Any why not challenge him with redefining an _everything_ pizza?"

"You have that," Chance laughed. "I like to know what I'm eating."

"I hope you _don't_ plan on sharing," Alison said as she pulled out her cell phone and placed the order for two pizzas and unspecified snack foods, having to repeat it for the 'catnip' request.

"More for me," T-Bone shrugged even as he grinned at her.

"Henry?" Spencer called, looking over at where his boss was working with his head deep in the TurboKat's body. When no answer came back, he shrugged. "Sure, I'll go get it," he said, climbing back into the tow truck. "Shouldn't take too long."

"So what else is around here?" T-Bone looked between the two women appraisingly. "I know that look they both have. They won't be speaking to normal people for days."

"You overestimate how many 'normal people' there are around here," Allison chuckled.

"Sheriff Carter, mostly," Jo observed.

"At any rate, there are a few things around here ... but we'll have to do something about how the two of you look first, or you'll be fawned over by biologists before you've taken three steps inside a door." Allison commented.

"If they're cute ..." T-Bone winked at her.

"Not that type of fawning, and most of them would be guys," Allison chuckled. "I'm sure somebody around here would have something that'd help the two of you blend in though... hologram or something of the sort." Global is working on several possibilities," she said and dialed Stark's number. "I'll see what he wants for a couple."

"This is Stark; is there something wrong, Allison?" He asked from the other end.

"How are those holographic programs going?" She asked. 

"I'll have to ask Dr. King; which programs in particular are you asking about, and why?" He asked, even though she was sure he already had a good idea. Probably just stalling for time while he considered what to ask for and got King on the line.

"The belt that alters personal appearance," she elaborated. "The Kats might be here for a while, given that Razor and Henry hit it off _very_ well."

"Hmm ... well, if they're going to be sticking around for a while, it wouldn't hurt to have some information about what they've got for technology." She could hear Nathan typing on the other end, checking out reports and information he'd been sent. "If they'll agree to help us work out the bugs on one of our VTOL systems, I think we could arrange for a pair of holo-belts programmed for human appearance," he offered.

She saw Razor glance at his partner, the smaller Kat not nearly as oblivious to the world as he made himself out to be when he was working. They locked eyes for a moment, then nodded to each other.

"Deal," Razor told her before turning his attention back to explaining whatever he was to Henry.

"We've got a deal," Allison told him. "And they have _very_ excellent hearing. Should I bring them around when we get a chance, or do you want the belts brought out here?"

"They'll have to be here to work on the VTOL system," Stark said evenly. "Besides, the belts would be more effective if programmed under controlled conditions."

"Don't even _think_ it, T-Bone." Razor half-growled, though his partner just chuckled and flipped his palms up in surrender.

"I'll bring them by after they've had something to eat then," Allison said easily. "Give you guys some time to get everything around that you'll need."

"I'll expect you in three hours," he gave enough time, he hoped, to pry the two geniuses apart, or at least get them pointed in the same direction.

"I think we can manage that," Allison smiled. "See you then," she said before hanging up.

"So, in two and a half hours I break out the stun guns?" Jo joked.

"He won't even notice," T-Bone joked back with a teasing grin that showed off sharp teeth.

"Maybe not, but Henry would," Allison chuckled. "So, where do you come from?"

"The world is Aristal, we're from MegaKat City," T-Bone told her and found a chair from the shop to sit in, settling in for the long haul. "Mostly Kats there, a fair Kantin population and most of the aliens, castaways and trouble. That dragon wasn't the usual fare, but it's par for the course."

"So you're already used to weird things happening pretty much constantly?" Allison asked conversationally, leaning back against the hood of her car. "Handy skill around here, as Carter's finding out."

"One of the lasting debates is whether trouble draws us or we draw trouble," T-Bone grinned at him. "Most forget that neither of us were around when the craziness started."

"Not by _that_ long," Razor added, his voice echoing from inside the jet.

"Maybe ten years," T-bone confirmed.

"What sort of trouble?" Jo asked cautiously.

"Name it, we've faced it in the last twenty-something years," he chuckled and leaned back. "Building-munching giant bacteria, an alternate world where we really were the bad guys, undead mages, time travel to the time of dinosaurs, the dark ages, the future, robots with the minds of mobsters ... that wasn't even a year's worth."

"Don't forget your girlfriend with the vertigo gun," Razor called from the TurboKat. "The water-stealing aliens, the plants that took over Manx Towers... then the insects that got it the next year. Oh, and how could you _ever_ forget the bundle of sweetness and joy that is Dark Kat," he growled.

"Yeah, and that guy who turned into a crystal monster, and the Red Lynx," T-Bone continued.

"A ghost pilot from Mega War 2," Razor added. "And MadKat ... can't forget him."

"What a loon," T-Bone shook his head. "Made a deal with something to make him powerful. He was crazy. Kept trapping folks in a magic square."

"And the giant mummies," Razor piped up again. "And that time the city got flooded with mutagen, and Dr. Viper, and the guy who turned off all technology, and the toxic waste giant scorpions with their miner-munching friends."

"Don't forget Volcanus," T-Bone grinned. "Last vacation I think we took was after blasting him."

"Yeah, an ancient volcano god that got woken up really pissed," Razor explained, then paused. "Well, that was two years worth, technically."

"And you guys have been active for about nineteen years you said?" Jo asked, shaking her head.

"As the SWAT Kats," T-Bone nodded. "We were Enforcers for almost two years before that."

"Sounds like you'll actually be pretty ready for what usually goes on around here," Allison mused.

"Except around here it's all science based, not magic," Jo added.

"Except for Past Master and MadKat, so was most of what we dealt with back home," T-Bone chuckled. "Guessing you don't have as many giant monster problems though? Don't seem to have enough support for that."

"Not since the early fifties or so," Allison confirmed.

"So, what sort of trouble do _you_ guys have?" He asked curiously.

"Oh, just time rifts, the occasional cold-war era doomsday device, people getting driven crazy by pollen, roving androids, people with memory-erasing devices," Jo said dryly.

"And that's just since Carter became Sheriff," Allison shrugged, though there was an amused tone to her voice.

"Which was how long ago?" T-Bone asked.

"About four months," Allison said after a bit of thought.

"Four months, one week, and three days," Jo confirmed.

It earned her a wary look from T-Bone before he shrugged it off and perked up a bit, his attention focused on the outside again. "Food's here."

"Vincent says he's sorry it took so long," Spencer said as he brought out the pizza. "He had to experiment a bit to figure out the sauce. And he sends his congratulations to whoever actually ordered catnip on anything. That stumped him for a while. He had to track it down."

"I take it it's not a normal topping," T-Bone chuckled and very happily claimed the warm box that contained his meal. "Smells good."

"Nope," Spencer agreed.

"Last time I heard of somebody doing anything with it, it was smoking it, and they ended up sick as a dog," Allison chuckled as T-Bone opened the box.

"Huh... that's weird," he murmured, taking a sniff of the pizza, the rich aroma of a cream sauce greeting him instead of the usual tomato sauce. Still he took a bite with little hesitation and mumbled in approval, quickly digging in with relish.

"Hey, Razor," he called after a moment. "Food's here. Want to snap out of it for a bit? The everything pizza is something else and whatever Jo got smells incredible."

"You think everything smells incredible," Razor teased him and emerged from the bomb bay. "At least this trip is going to have perks."

"Yeah, nobody trying to drop a nuke on Enforcer HQ for one," T-Bone chuckled. "By the way... I don't think you want to ask what's _on_ this pizza of yours," he said, separating his from the heavily stacked pizza waiting for his partner. "I think I see... is that venison?"

"Camel, probably, it's on today's special," Jo said helpfully.

"This place has a _strange_ cook," Razor shook his head and lifted a piece of pizza and dug in with no real hesitation. "Good, but strange," he confirmed around a mouthful of pizza after a few moments to chew it.

"Vincent prides himself on being able to cook _anything_ you ask for," Allison smiled. "When you've got a city full of the most brilliant minds in the world, you tend to cultivate some pretty strange tastes."

"You mean this entire town is like Razor?" T-Bone asked between bites, shaking his head at the thought.

"Only less sociable, in some cases," Jo chuckled. She didn't miss the look Razor cast her way. She'd seen it so many times it wasn't funny. She didn't miss the recognition on T-Bone's face either of an isolated genius told that he didn't have to be so isolated.

"So what causes most of the excitement around here?" Razor asked between exchanging scientific chatter with Henry.

"Unauthorized experiments or experiments gone horribly, horribly wrong," Allison explained, standing up and straightening out her suit a bit.

"Usually both, after a fashion," Jo added. "One experiment that wasn't supposed to happen doing something with another one that results in something going wrong."

"Like Senators being kidnapped and almost dissected," Allison nodded, Jo flinching a bit.

"So you don't tend to have outside issues blowing things up?" T-Bone asked between bites.

"Oh there's the occasional bit of corporate espionage, but that's about it, and we're pretty careful about it," Allison said easily. "GD's security is _the_ best, and most of the world doesn't even know Eureka exists. Things are actually pretty peaceful around here, as far as big-scale damage goes."

"So why was this place built?" Razor focused on her, his food forgotten as he felt his way through the questions he wanted to ask.

"Our last world war was decided, basically, by who developed nuclear weapons first," Allison explained, trying to strip out all the need for background information that the two newcomers simply wouldn't have. "After the war, one of the world's lead scientists realized that a matter of months were all that had stood between the Allies winning, or the facist, racist dictators who ran the Axis powers. He started working with other top scientists and designers, and came up with Eureka, a place where the top minds in the world could come together and work to make sure that we stayed well ahead of the technology curve. We've had our bad spots, but most of them have worked out for the best."

"So is this a government, corporate or civilian venture?" Razor asked.

"That'd be a bit of all three," Henry offered. "Most of Eureka's funding starts out from the government's contracts with Global Dynamics. GD runs the biggest lab in town, and approves _most_ of the research. But you've got a few independent civilian operators and scientists, like Vincent, Beverly, and me, filling in the areas that GD doesn't cover and running our private projects."

"Most of the researchers around here have their own private projects too, whether they work for GD or not," Allison added. She was privately was sure that they'd answered correctly so far as Razor was concerned. "They maintain most of the rights to them, too."

"How much work do you do on military vehicles and less-than-lethal weapons?" He asked while T-Bone kept to the background, his opinions to himself, as he ate and listened.

"Probably 80% of the research in the nation," Jo answered easily. "Our armory has weapons in it that most of the world hasn't seen yet, and we're technically 'just' the county Sheriff's office."

"Stark would give his eye-teeth to get a few days alone with the schematics for what I've seen already," Henry said easily. "You've got systems here that would be a gold mine in terms of government contracts and corporate licensing."

"This is what I build with just us and a salvage yard," Razor told him with a bit of pride but no real bragging.

"And a lot of tail-kicking experience," T-Bone added and happily accepted a cold gallon milk jug from Spencer. "Thanks."

"Oh you'll get more than that," Allison smiled. "Trust me, somebody in weapons, armor, or military design has to jump through a few more hoops to get in, but they get put pretty high on the pecking order at GD. Especially during our budget reviews. You could do a lot of good around here, if you wanted to."

She smiled very privately when she saw them both perk up a small bit. Another gambit done correctly.

"So where did you two fit in back home?" Jo asked despite a dirty look from Allison.

The pair exchanged glances, then shrugged.

"Vigilantes," T-Bone told her bluntly. "We were Enforcers, law enforcement, but our CO couldn't stand anybody better than he was so he stuck us in the salvage yard on some bogus charges."

"No offense? But _what_ were you doing in law enforcement?" Henry asked. "If you don't want to talk about it that's fine, but from the sound of it they could've used you in R &D more than flying."

"It's all I ever wanted," T-Bone shrugged, though there was no missing the deep emotions behind his words. "Feral took my wings, my partner gave them back."

"They were the only people in tech that wanted anything to do with me," Razor shrugged as well, his pain just as open and at least as deep. "Got blacklisted in the industry. Never did find out why, but at least two companies came out with my designs credited to others a few years later. Could have taught at a university or something, but at the time it was an easy way not to think about it."

"Ugh," Henry grunted. "Those sort of backstabbers don't last long around here. Folks have a way of finding it out, and when they do...."

"The last one who did anything like that only got away with it because of a memory-erasing device that he stole, and he's not working _anywhere_ now that we know about it," Allison finished for him. "His wife almost killed him for the whole incident too; he got lucky that she didn't have the heart to turn the force field off entirely."

Jo almost said something, but actually shut her mouth at a look from Henry.

"So do you feel like heading over to Global Dynamic's main facility so we can start to show you around town?" Allison suggested. "Henry can come along, if you'd like, so you can keep talking about whatever it is you're discussing."

"Sure," Razor nodded as he finished off his pizza. Might as well get a look at what's there, if nothing else."

"Which is probably my cue to go save Sheriff Carter from the paperwork," Jo said dryly. "You know how to get a hold of us if something comes up," she said as she headed out to her SUV.

"Come on," Henry chuckled. "There's room in the truck for the both of you."

"What about the TurboKat?" T-Bone almost immediately objected.

"If you've got some way to lock it down, Spencer can keep an eye on it," Henry offered.

"Trust me, I won't go fooling around with anything," the youth agreed. "Don't particularly want to be blown up."

"I'll just set her to follow," Razor stopped his partner's next objection.

"Let me check with Nathan before we bring an armed fighter into even more heavily restricted airspace," Allison said, pulling out her phone and calling again to warn him. "Don't want any misunderstandings, and they're a little touchy about those things."

There was a long pause on the other end of the line, then "you have got to be kidding, Allison."

"No I'm not, Nathan. The defenses can handle it if it goes bad and you're already allowing two heavily armed people inside the building," she pointed out. "It can land in the main hangar. Besides, do you want to risk somebody poking something they shouldn't and setting off its defenses? It'd be _our_ fault then."

"Point," he acknowledged reluctantly. "All right, but I want _somebody_ on board that thing to pilot it."

"No problem," Razor nodded. "We'll fly her in."

"I'll have an escort out to show them the way in a few minutes," Stark said.

"You'll want that escort," Allison said seriously as they both hung up. "You won't be able to find the facility without it."

"Following you isn't good enough?" T-Bone raised an eyebrow under his black bandana. "Are you _sure_ you don't have one of him stashed around here?" he motioned to his partner jokingly.

"If following her was good enough, anybody could get through," Henry laughed. "You'll see what we've got when you get there."

"The shield isn't going to scramble anything, will it?" Razor asked seriously.

"Not scramble it," Allison said easily. "You just won't see it. It's a holographic camouflage system. You don't know where it is until you come down through it." The sound of a chopper approaching said that the escort on the way. "You'll see soon enough; it shouldn't bother your systems."

"Understood," Razor nodded and the pair turned to leap into their jet's open cockpit and did a quick check before VTOLing to join the helicopter in the air.

"You know, Allison, this is turning into a very interesting week," Henry commented as they walked to her car.

* * *

"You're not sure about going back, are you?" T-Bone asked a few minutes later after making sure the comm systems in the TurboKat were set to receive only, throttling the TurboKat back almost painfully to keep behind the two combat-grade helicopters escorting him.

"No," he admitted quietly, keeping a sharp eye on all their sensors. "If this place is what it seems to be, it doesn't get much better for me."

"Yeah," T-Bone acknowledged. "But what about MegaKat City? Without us, probably only going to last a couple weeks at this rate."

"Then it doesn't have many years left anyway," Razor pointed out. "How much longer do you really think we'll continue to beat the odds? _Enforcer_ pilots don't live as long as we have, and they don't face half of what we do. If we're really that critical, the city doesn't have a future anyway."

"So, what, we're just supposed to stick around here and forget about everybody else back home?" T-Bone shot back, shaking his head with a sigh as soon as he'd said it. "Sorry, buddy. Didn't mean it like that, just... how are we supposed to fit in around here? We're the only two Kats this world's ever seen, and that's not likely to change."

"That won't exactly change my life much," Razor pointed out. "I don't fit in any better back home."

"You do pretty good when you let yourself," the pilot said softly. "Callie never seemed to mind, anyways," he chuckled slightly. "Bet Feral's already dancing in his office."

"He's not that stupid," Razor shrugged. "Arrogant bastard, but not stupid. He knows how useful we are. We've always come back before."

"Serve the prick right if we _didn't_ for once," T-Bone mused. "Just... don't make any promises for us, okay? I mean, things might not be as rosy here as they seem. Not sure what I'd do here either, for that matter."

"I won't, not until I'm sure of what I'm agreeing to," he reached forward to squeeze T-Bone's shoulder. "I'm not about to forget about you either."

"Thanks," T-Bone chuckled, reaching up to squeeze his hand affectionately. "I mean... Hell, from the sound of it, they don't even _need_ SWAT around here. And I kinda doubt they need a mechanic like me, y'know?"

"But if I'm around they'll need a test pilot," Razor said with a slight smile. "And if they do aircraft anyway ... do you really think they can find better than you to test them out?"

"Well, that'd be something," T-Bone chuckled. "Y'know... I wonder if it'd be possible to get a civilian license around here. Have to build everything from scratch."

"But without Feral breathing down our necks and screwing us over, that might not be a bad thing," Razor finished for him.

"Not really. Gonna have to think about it though. Not the sort of thing to decide just like that," the tabby said, snapping his fingers.

"I'm not either," Razor promised him. "But it's enough it's worth checking out and thinking about it. We're approaching a serious energy disturbance. Probably that shield Allison was talking about."

"Probably... looks like a chasm and forest, don't know how they expect us to land," T-Bone admitted, looking down at the ground as the choppers started to hover, one of them descending.

"Likely holographic," Razor guessed after studying his readouts. "Just follow the chopper down. We should come in under the projection at some point."

"I can see why he didn't want the TurboKat coming in under her own power," the pilot murmured, heading down after the first helicopter, trying not to react as it disappeared into the canopy. A moment later the TurboKat's nose disappeared, only to reappear to them as they broke below the shield. It was still forested and green, but there was now a huge chrome and glass building in the middle.

"I'd say that's Global Dynamics," Razor murmured.

"I'd say that's a good bet," T-Bone agreed, bringing the TurboKat in for a landing in a hangar filled with an impossible variety of different types of jets, dozens of different shapes and models, most of them experimental, many of them downright ridiculous.

"I think it's safe to say they are in need of test pilots," Razor chuckled before the cockpit cover slid back for them to exit.

"Yeah, but don't _ever_ let them talk me into that one," T-Bone chuckled, nodding towards an unusual vehicle that looked like a twisted hybrid of helicopter, jet, and corkscrew.

"Give me a week and you'd try it," Razor winked at him and jumped out to greet the six humans waiting for them.

"If _you'd_ worked on it for a week, maybe," T-Bone chuckled.

* * *

Nathan Stark watched along with Dr. King, Fargo and a small detachment of 'low level' security personnel as the SWAT Kats climbed out of their jet with the grace and flair of gymnasts.

"Well I'll be damned, they did manage to get it all worked out," Stark muttered to himself, referring to the jet's VTOL systems. "Now how did they manage it for uneven terrain ... So, Doctor, do you think you can work something out for them so they're not mobbed by every cat-lover in Eureka?"

"Well, they are human sized and built correctly," Dr. King considered the pair even as they considered him. "Just how much scrutiny will it have to stand up to?"

"You're trying to conceal a pair of aliens in Eureka, Doctor," Stark pointed out dryly.

"Well I can't do much in case of dissection," King pointed out with an arch tone.

"At least visual, preferably tactile if you can get away with it. Casual observation shouldn't make it clear that they're not human. I doubt anything more is likely to happen with people they're not working with." Stark said, then reconsidered at the smirk Razor gave T-Bone. "Clothing worn under it should handle most contact."

"And we can choose who not to let touch the rest," Razor nodded.

"Visual will be fairly simple. Tactile is still best accomplished by physical makeup and prosthetics. Dr. King told them.

"Visual will be just fine," T-Bone said quickly. "And can we try this before he gets too distracted to be moved?"

"My lab is all set up, we just need to go down to get the necessary scans," Doctor King said easily. "We'll give you the ten-cent tour on the way, at least of what's between here and there."

"Lead the way," Razor nodded and motioned him to go ahead. "So, is it Nathan or Stark?"

"Stark," the young man said simply. "Preferably Doctor Stark, from my colleagues. As you might guess, this is one of our main hangars, where we store our regular jets and a variety of experimental units that are almost ready for test-flights."

"Almost seems to be a key word for a few of those," Razor observed evenly. "Is this Global Dynamic's only facility?"

"Hardly, though it is one of the key facilities," Stark replied. "We're a major multi-national corporation, but there's only one Eureka. We have one of the primary development facilities here as a result."

"Is there any kind of research you don't do?" Razor asked, his key eyes and mind taking in everything they walked past.

"Cloning is the primary one," Stark explained. "Human cloning, at least, though we do have a few projects related to livestock. You'll probably hear of a clone or two around the town, if you stick around, but it wasn't the result of an authorized experiment. One of our researchers cloned his wife before moving here when she refused to move with him. Entirely without authorization, and before he had even come to Eureka."

It wasn't lost on Stark as they walked that while the pilot might not be nearly as bright as his partner or other top scientists, T-Bone was no slouch in the brains department either. At the very least he wasn't as stupid as he generally led folks to believe.

"Would that be any sentient cloning, or just your own species?" Razor asked.

"Human only, but we watch very carefully for anything involving sentient levels of intelligence," he explained. "With cloning in particular, that's a technicality we don't want to take chances with. Raising the intelligence of other species we're leery of, generally. Sentient AI's... it can be a delicate subject, but there are no strict policies against it."

"Yet," Doctor King agreed. "That's likely going to be a matter of debate in the near future, particularly once borderline-sentient AI's become more common."

"They aren't very hard to build," Razor shrugged. "You just have to know the right architecture for it. What about transference of a person into a computer or robot body?"

Stark nearly choked, and while none of the humans around him noticed, he knew both felinoids caught something, even if they might not be sure of what it meant. He'd have to be more careful than usual around them, but just what Razor was talking about so easily was worth many risks.

"Hasn't been done yet," Stark said simply. "Entirely sentient AI androids haven't been achieved yet, officially," he explained. "Legally, they have no status as people. Officially, no one is trying to do it now. Corporate policy does not bar them, but they are not our focus anymore."

"Sounds like back home, until the legal system was faced with two of them on a crime spree," T-Bone shook his head and sniffed the air more intently.

"She's not even your species," Razor rolled his eyes.

"Never stopped me before," T-Bone smirked at him but turned his attention back to the science-talking males around him instead of the female he'd caught the attractive scent of.

"Let's steer clear of the biology facilities if possible, hmm?" Stark asked Doctor King under his breath.

"Noted," the older scientist nodded, shifting their route a bit.

"Any other specific types of projects the two of you are curious about?" Stark asked the two of them.

"I just like to fly," T-Bone shrugged.

"Vehicles and less-than-lethal weapons are what I specialized in, but the last twenty years have made me into more of a generalist," Razor admitted. "Most other fields I picked up were from fighting them and figuring out how to dismantle them. The TurboKat is my greatest achievement so far, and her next incarnation already had improvements."

"We've definitely got room in those fields, particularly non-lethals. With the political climate we're looking at currently, corporate's far more interested in them now than they used to be. At the moment, most of them are prone to abuse, too unreliable, or potentially lethal if used against people with certain conditions. So that's certainly a field we're interested in new ideas for. What about the various missile types I've heard you had loaded in your jet?" He asked curiously.

"A few general types I always have on board and a section that we've found useful against opponents we've faced multiple times," Razor thought back to his collection and what was actually with them. "There are sonic, electric, EMP, vertigo inducing, net, electric net, grapple and standard explosives. Plus the cement guns and various lethal arms."

"Would you be able to reproduce the plans for them, or are all your notes back home?" Stark asked evenly.

"I should be able to," Razor nodded. "It could be a bit of work to make them using local technology, but none of them are that complicated."

"Most missiles we make use of are varying methods of simply delivering large quantities of explosives, so any of the designs would prove interesting, at the very least. Assuming, of course, that you might want to stick around long enough to do any of this," Stark said, keeping his tone as neutral as he could without being discouraging.

"We'll see how it works out," Razor nodded to him but kept his smile and his excitement to himself. "You mentioned a VTOL system you wanted help with in exchange for the holo-belts. What issues are you having?"

"Our primary issues at this point are coping with uneven terrain and transitioning from regular flight to VTOL mode, as I understand it," Stark explained. "We have a handful of jets that are intended to have a VTOL mode, but usually only get used for VSTOL instead. True VTOL has tended to result in fighters that are extremely dangerous, even when not in combat, for any pilot who isn't extremely experienced with them."

"The same reason most jets back home didn't have it," Razor nodded. "That and cost. They tend to be many times more expensive to build and maintain, between mechanics, computers and fuel. After we get the belts worked out, why don't I take a look at what you have built so far."

"Cost isn't quite the same issue here, though the cheaper the better," Stark chuckled. "And that sounds like a plan to me. Probably start you off looking at a Harrier, closest we've got to a working system. If you can find a way to fix the bugs with that one, it'd go over a lot better with our buyers than an entirely new system," he explained as they passed by a door with black and yellow caution stripes emblazoned brightly on it.

"I'll see what I can come up with," Razor grinned a bit, eager for the challenge and the possibility of impressing a new set of people.

"And here we are," Dr. King announced as they stopped outside his lab, swiping his key card to open the door. "One of the best holography studios in Eureka," he explained with no small amount of pride for his personal workspace.

"I bet," Razor commented as he took in the heavily computerized space with real interest.

"And here come Allison and Henry," Stark said as the pair turned the corner.

* * *

"Ah, hello Allison," Beverly Barlowe greeted the well-dressed woman when she opened the door. "What brings you here?"

"A fighter jet, a dragon, and two potential new recruits," Allison said easily as Beverly closed the door behind her. "They're probably going to need a place to stay for a while, and Stark would like complete psych profiles if you can get them."

She raised an eyebrow. "A dragon ... that wasn't from Global Dynamics?"

"No. They're aliens; it seems there was some sort of technical mishap that resulted in both them, and the creature they were dogfighting with, being relocated just above Henry's garage. Not sure if it's interdimensional, interplanetary, or what, but it sounds like it's not the first time something like this has happened to them. I should warn you, they're cat-people, but they've been given a pair of holo-belts from Dr. King to help them blend in."

"All right," Beverly nodded easily and guided Allison to a chair in the comfortable lounge. "What can you tell me about them?"

"Starting with the thin one of the two, his name is Jake Clawson, goes by the call-sign Razor when they're in the air. He's brilliant, and the member of the team that Nathan's most interested in bringing on with Global Dynamics. Aside from being a highly skilled gunner, he built their jet - which is well ahead of any fighter I'm familiar with - out of the spare parts at a junkyard. It even surprised Henry. He's somewhat socially awkward, but I suspect he thrives on being around people with similar interests and mental abilities. Pretty typical fare for around here, actually."

"He does sound like it," Beverly nodded easily. "What about his partner?"

"That would be Chance, call-sign T-Bone," Allison chuckled. "Very buff, attractive if you're into people with heavy muscle and he knows it. I'd say he's the classic oversexed fighter pilot, from the way they talk. He's not as brilliant as Jake, but he's not stupid by any means. I imagine he's a lot like what you would get if Sheriff Carter had gone into the Air Force instead of the Marshals. Sounds a lot less enthusiastic about the idea of staying around here, for any of a number of reasons. They're both incredibly loyal to each other as well."

"Typical of combat teams of all kinds," Beverly nodded in understanding. "How elite a team would you say they are?"

"I didn't get a chance to see their air-fight, but from what I did see, and from what I picked up from Jo and Sheriff Carter, I'd say they're the equal of any special air forces out there. They tended dealt with problems that their home city's special forces couldn't handle. Vigilantes, but not the sort who usually went after regular criminals. I think they both, Chance especially, have issues with authority figures. They're willing to talk about their story, at least to some extent."

"Because of what turned them vigilante, I expect," Beverly said. "Are you sure they are both male, by their standards, what the female of the species looks like or their sexual orientation?"

"They identify themselves as male and recognize a human woman very easily for a female. Chance seems most interested in women and is definitely interested in Jo. Jake flirted with Carter a bit and thinks Jo smells nice. They both seem very keyed into scent, and they have _very_ sharp hearing. Jake could hear Nathan's end of the phone call I made from fifteen feet away. I believe they are a non-monogamous couple," Allison told her. "I am not positive, but they have all the hallmarks I can think of."

"It can be very difficult to distinguish between a sexual couple and a combat team at times. Both are deep emotional bonds," Beverly explained. "Do they seem willing to talk about sexuality?"

"I don't know for sure about Jake, but I suspect you'll have a hard time keeping it out of a conversation with Chance," Allison chuckled. "They didn't seem to have any problems with it, but it wasn't exactly something that came up beyond the flirting. Oh, and don't be surprised if they slip and refer to a female as a bitch; if they're talking about somebody from back home, it might well be the proper term. They had a canine species as well, and didn't know that it was generally considered an insult here. I did let them know they shouldn't use it here."

"How well do they speak English?"

"Almost perfectly, though it is because of a translation device Henry had. Jake has already picked up a few words and phrases, though I'm not sure how well he can put them into context yet. He's extremely computer literate, and will definitely appreciate having a laptop in his room." Allison said.

"Easily arranged," Beverly nodded, then looked up as the rumble of powerful engines became clearly audible. "Are they coming by jet?"

"Yes, that would be the TurboKat," Allison said and stood. "I'll introduce you to them."

After a moment to determine they were landing out behind the B&B, she let Beverly lead the way out to the back porch where the jet was touching down.

"I _did_ warn you that it was an impressive jet," Allison chuckled in response to the lightly surprised look the other woman was wearing. She started down to the back yard, ready to greet the two newcomers when they came out and introduce the stunning brunette that followed her.

"Yes, you did," Beverly put on her best welcoming smile and hoped in the back of her mind that they would find her perfume as appealing as most men did.

She was actually a little surprised when the cockpit opened and two men in their mid-30's leapt to the ground with ease. They were dressed in deep blue flight suits with red highlights and black harnesses. The one from the front seat, the pilot, was a stocky Caucasian male with sandy blonde hair and blue eyes, built like a construction worker. From the back seat an athletically lean, deeply tan man jumped down, his features and skin-tone strongly reminiscing of a Spanish/ Native American heritage mixed in with something else to provide for his reddish-brown hair and bright hazel eyes.

"Chance, Jake, this is Beverly Barlowe, who runs the B&B as well as being Eureka's primary counselor. Beverly, Chance and Jake, our new arrivals." Allison made the introductions, paying careful attention to what she could still see of their reactions. Even after only a few hours around them, she regretted the loss of their ears and tails as indicators.

"Hello, Ma'am," Chance reached out to shake hands with a wide, friendly grin that was decidedly charming in the subtly intentional way of a lifetime of crafting backed by a naturally gregarious nature.

"Hello," she smiled, shaking his hand, feeling the smooth leather of his gloves against her skin. "I see the holo-belts are working well," she said approvingly, shaking Jake's hand next. "Please, come in."

"Thank you, Ma'am," Jake smiled shyly at her before the group headed to the house.

"Well, I have a mountain of paperwork to get to myself for this, so I'll leave you two in Beverly's hands," Allison said as they walked into the fine Victorian-style house, continuing towards the front door. "I'll see you all around," she said cheerfully before heading back out towards her car.

"See you around," Chance waved her off easily, then turned to Beverly with a bit more uncertainty. "Umm, you know we don't have any money."

"That is not a problem," Beverly said easily and took him by the arm to show the pair into the lounge. "One of the perks of Eureka is that almost everything is provided for. Food, shelter, clothing, transportation, counseling, protection ... even for guests. You don't have to pay for any of it."

"What's the catch?" Chance asked, almost on reflex.

"We all support the work being done at Global Dynamics," she explained easily and got the guys to sit down in plush chairs before taking a seat herself. "They make huge profits from the research done and use it to make it that much more desirable to live here so the scientists want to stay. One thing that they have found is that one of the most effective perks they can offer is to take the day-to-day concerns of paying for food, shelter, clothing, transportation, health care, entertainment and such out of the equation. Would you like something to drink? Milk, tea, soda, scotch ....."

"Warm milk sounds great," Jake smiled at her even as he started to curl up in the plushly cushioned chair. It looked a bit odd for a man in his thirties, but she could easily envision a feline finding it quite comfortable.

"Soda," Chance said with a smile of his own.

"Now, before I indulge my curiosity as much as you are comfortable with, are there any questions I can answer for you?" She offered with a polite sweetness.

"What if you're not one of the geniuses around here? So far, it looks like just about everybody is, except maybe the Sheriff and his deputy."

"That depends on your skills," she told him smoothly. "In your case, test pilot would seem to be the first place to check."

"From what I saw in their hangar, probably," Chance nodded slightly. "Off the clock though? Haven't heard of too much around here, honestly."

"Oh, there is off the clock time," Beverly smiled at him as a roll-around mini-robot brought their drinks on a tray. "There are all manner of entertainment available. Movies, bowling, hunting, camping, fine dinning, socializing ... you might be surprised how many of the geniuses around here enjoy very normal hobbies. Is there anything in particular you are interested in?"

"Clubs or bars that don't serve camel," Chance chuckled. "If you catch my drift."

"There is one, The Sun Dance," she told him. "A bit of an underground club. Nothing that's illegal, it's just not the kind of image Eureka is trying to project. So the outside looks normal and the inside in anything but. Loud music, dancing and alcohol for the younger and wilder crowd around here."

"Trust me, he counts," Jake chuckled, looking over at his partner fondly. "Probably turn it on its ear, given half the chance. So, I think we're on to your questions now," he said, cocking his head in a gesture that was pure cat.

"I admit, I am curious what you actually look like," she smiled at him. "You make good-looking humans, but I do know you are not human."

"And it'll probably be a lot easier to explain any shedding in your head," Jake chuckled, reaching down and hitting the button on the holo-belt, his human appearance flickering out and revealing the caramel-colored felinoid beneath it, his long, fluffy tail twitching. Chance did the same, revealing the chocolate stripes on golden fur that showed from beneath his flight suit. Those, at least, were the same, aside from the gloves, which were cut to their three fingered hands with the tips cut off to accommodate retractable claws.

"Allison wasn't kidding when she said you were cat-people," Beverly murmured, only now really accepting that they were aliens. "How do you bathe?" she asked. "Most of what I have available are water-based, actual bathtubs and showers."

"Isn't that normal?" Chance asked with a bit of a chuckle. "Don't suppose you have air blowers for drying off, do you?"

"Not at the moment, but they could easily be installed by tomorrow night," she said. "Most felines on this world hate water. I wasn't sure if you did as well."

"Nah, especially not him," Chance smirked at his partner, who instantly blushed deeply under his fur. "Y'might even say he likes it a little too much," he winked.

"You've never complained," Jake shot back despite the crimson blush nearly visible beneath his fur.

"'Course not," Chance grinned. "I just like the colors you turn when I bring it up."

"And I rather like the colors the real thing turns you," Jake managed a comeback.

"Nobody I've ever met didn't," Chance teased, leaning over to give him a light peck on the cheek. "Least of all you." He was more than a bit surprised when Jake lifted a hand up to cup his cheek and turned it into a real kiss, the kind that usually melted any kind of resistance Chance had to whatever Jake wanted at the time.

It was enough heat that even Beverly could smell the arousal. She held absolutely silent and still as the pair took this wherever they were going to. She had not expected Jake to be the one who made this kind of move, but she was hardly going to complain about such a clear look into them both.

"Okay, you haven't done anything wrong, and I don't think you're about to ask me for anything, and I _know_ you're not going to take that any further, so... _wow_ ," Chance murmured, smiling a bit before kissing Jake back, not _quite_ as heatedly, but only because he was fully aware that the smaller Kat didn't usually like to be quite so public.

"Fresh starts," Jake murmured, his breath caught in his throat and his world narrowed to the tom sitting so close by.

"Yeah," Chance smiled, stroking Jake's cheek gently. "Though some of those should probably be a _little_ more private than in front of the town shrink," the tabby winked, nodding towards Beverly.

"Feel free to ignore my presence," she smiled, her voice just over a whisper. "I am a licensed sex therapist as well."

"Tomorrow, when I'm playing with the Harrier," Jake didn't miss a beat in telling his partner.

"Think we'll take a raincheck on the observation though," Chance chuckled, kissing Jake again before leaning back into his seat. "That answer any of your other questions?" He asked Beverly with a half-grin.

"Yes," she told him, a bit surprised at how effectively the pair's kiss had turned her on. "Are same-sex relationships common on your world?"

"Yeah," Chance nodded. "MegaKat City's not much on getting worked up over who you sleep with. We've got bigger problems to work out."

"Like the kind that make us think your everyday excitement is pretty normal everyday excitement," Jake added.

"Yeah... occasionally having a giant bacteria eat a subway car full of people kinda takes precedence over a couple guys or girls in bed together," Chance nodded. "I'm guessing it's not necessarily like that around here?"

"In Eureka, that is the attitude you find. It is, regrettably, not true for much of the planet yet," Beverly acknowledged. "Typical terms you are likely to encounter for a same-sex couple here are homosexual, gay, for two men and lesbian, for two women. Bisexual, or bi, are folks who like both genders."

"Which would be both of us," Chance shrugged a bit. "All the more reason to stay around here, if we stick around."

"Yeah," Jake murmured. "We get into enough trouble without going out looking for it."

"Is it common among your people to be in an exclusive relationship?" Beverly asked with a bit of honest curiosity. "Where you only sleep with one person?"

"Pretty common," Chance said easily. "Common enough to ask, but rare enough that you have to remember to listen to the answer, and not make assumptions. More common among Kantin than Kats. Canines; go figure," he chuckled.

"Are you two exclusive?" she asked easily.

"Not really," Jake replied just as easily. "We're not exclusive, but we usually check before it gets to the second date or so."

"We almost managed a stable triad once, but our hobby and her career conflicted," Chance said with a slight shrug.

"Still could work out, if things change," Jake murmured, not so much in real hope as desire for it to. "Just have to work out the vigilante thing."

"That'll take her uncle dying," Chance pointed out, likely not for the first time. "You know that bastard won't retire."

"I know," he sighed and sunk into the chair a bit more with his warm milk. "It's got to happen sometime."

"Sorry, this is an old topic for us," Chance said, leaning back himself. "The SWAT Kats were a vigilante unit. Felina was the niece, and second-in-command, of the guys we kept showing up, in particular the asshole who booted us out of the Enforcers in the first place for trying to do our job."

"So as the commander, she could pardon you and make you legitimate, but until then it is quite dangerous for both of you," Beverly tried to summarize what she'd just heard while she kept just how _normal_ it sounded from showing. For two obvious aliens, their reactions and culture was unnervingly familiar.

"About it," Chance nodded.

Beverly thought for a moment, absorbing everything said, left unsaid and show already.

"The masks, did you have to conceal your identities in MegaKat City?"

"Only as T-Bone and Razor," Jake said. "Otherwise somebody would've recognized us and either been able to turn us in, or drop a nuke on the Scrapyard. I had the security set up pretty well, but there's only so much you can do against that sort of firepower."

"You had enemies with that kind of firepower?" She asked, honestly a touched surprised.

"Dark Kat mostly," Chance shrugged. "But enough of the others could've come close enough. A fifty-foot giant plant-lizard doesn't much care about an electric fence, or the other defenses we had, and Viper had enough of those to throw at us. Threats around MegaKat City tended to be very, very big," he added.

"So I am gathering," Beverly said. "How do you feel about having to hide what race you are here, not just when you are flying?"

"It sucks, but it's the price of things," Jake shrugged, though his acceptance fooled neither of those listening.

"The general public might never see us, but this town ..." Chance shook his head. "We've already walked down Global Dynamic's halls as we are. The sheriff knows what we are, so do half a dozen others," he glanced at his partner. "It's not going to hold. Not with the folks who live here."

"I imagine that it was only really intended to work as a temporary fix," Beverly agreed. "Let folks get to know you before they find out."

"Yeah," Chance nodded. "Let's face it. Unless at least one of us changes our lifestyle a _lot_ while we're here, probably won't last long anyways," he chuckled.

"No kidding," Jake chuckled and bapped Chance with his tail playfully. "You'll never give up on chasing fems."

"Hey, if they don't mind the fur, tail, and barbs, why should I?" Chance smirked at his partner.

"Barbs?" Beverly focused quickly on the tabby.

"Ah ... yeah," Chance chuckled, rubbing the back of his head a little self-consciously. "It's a feline thing, from what I've figured out."

"Why don't you introduce her to the concept tomorrow?" Jake nearly purred, amused at seeing his partner taken by surprise.

"Want first dibs, hu?" Chance chuckled and rubbed Jake's leg.

"In our room," Jake leaned over and licked his cheek.

"I can show you there, if you'd like," Beverly smiled at the pair, sure she would be viewed more favorably by offering privacy rather than remaining silent and seeing what she would see.

"Thanks," Chance grinned, turning to kiss his lover before picking him up with a grunt.

"Put me down you silly romantic," Jake bapped Chance's ears playfully.

"You're no fun," Chance chuckled, setting him down before they followed a bemused Beverly up the stairs.

"Safe to assume that the two of you will want one room, at least for tonight?" She asked as they headed up to the second floor.

"Might as well," Chance chuckled and brushed his tail against Jake's leg when Jake caught his hand and entwined their fingers. "We'll end up in one room anyway."

"I'm not particularly surprised," she chuckled. "By the way, monogamous relationships are fairly normal here, so you'll want to watch out for that," she said, mostly to Chance. "Getting caught up in those sort of relationships can get ugly."

"I'll keep it in mind," he nodded seriously.

"And I'll help you remember which mind," Jake teased him.

"You will find lubricants, brushes and many other items in the bathroom," Beverly smiled at the pair and carefully hid a bit of pain at seeing such deep devotion without the attached possessiveness and jealousy she so often dealt with. It was be nice, however, to see a new arrival whose issues _couldn't_ all be solved by actually sticking to a forty-hour work week once in a while.

"You know, back home, they'd have had a different word for somebody who was a sex therapist and ran a hotel," Chance mused after closing the door, pulling Jake close to give him a kiss hot enough to make up for the first one they'd shared since getting here.

"I know," Jake shivered and surrendered to the heat for a long moment. "Shower?" he offered throatily.

Beverly let the door close and returned downstairs to relax in her private office with a large pot of tea. She was ready to stay awake and watch her guests for as much of the night that they were up. The multiple cameras were all functioning perfectly, the audio was as clear as if she was only inches away from the pair. The multiple DVD recorders were primed and the first one was capturing all that was going on for later review.

She sipped her tea and watched as they explored the luxurious room, every movement a familiar combination of the shock, awe and uncertainty of people who had never really known anything remotely close to what they were now in. They didn't do much talking at first, only looked and touched and communicated with a silent combination of body language, expression and hand signals.

They made their way to the bathroom and nosed around, exploring every drawer, cabinet and sniffing each and every soap, shampoo, toothpaste, cologne, lube and other substance they found before they undressed. Some by their own hands, some by their lover's.

They were surprisingly attractive, for an entirely different species. Chance, in particular, had a well-built body that his fur didn't hide in the least.

They kissed again, Jake reaching in to crank the shower up almost as hot as it could go. Beverly watched as they climbed in, careful not to slip on their way, the scalding water slicking their fur down along their bodies. She mentally congratulated herself on remembering to put them in a room with a _lot_ of towels easily available. The pair would need them all.

Chance reached down and cupped Jake's groin, making the smaller male tremble lightly with his eyes closed. Both their penises rested inside a sheath of fur-covered skin until well into arousal, the apparent intent of Chance touch.

It was clear that they were both intimately familiar with each other's bodies, unsurprisingly. They made out beneath the hot spray, steam partly obscuring what they were up to as Chance worked to get his lover to full hardness, licking his muzzle tenderly. They kissed heatedly again, then Jake began to work his mouth down Chance's chest, kissing and licking as he slowly knelt, then rubbed his face against the tabby's heavy groin.

"Oh, yeah," Chance moaned and reached forward to brace himself against the shower's wall. Their mutual surrender to the other was intoxicating to them, a reaffirmation of their loyalty to each other, and quite arousing to the woman watching them. It told her so much of their relationship, their core natures. Added to some time alone with Chance to see how he responded to a woman without his partner there would be worth a small fortune to the psych profile and her ability to manipulate them. She was already sure the key to keeping Jake around was to court Chance without making it blatantly obvious early on.

Jake nuzzled Chance's sheath and fondled his balls, working him to hardness before taking his thick, red shaft into his mouth. The woman watching them from another room noticed that she hadn't been able to notice the barbs they'd mentioned on either of them; clearly they weren't _that_ prominent, at least not from a distance.

She lightly touched a camera control and zoomed in on Chance's groin, intent to see what they had talked about, and soon noticed the small protrusions on the hard length as Jake played mercilessly with them. A closer inspection, as much as the micro camera could manage, and she was sure they were quite flexible and definitely a key source of pleasure. Another touch and she zoomed in on Jake's groin to see the same thing unobstructed. She couldn't decide if they acted more like soft hairs or small gelatinous strands when she zoomed back out to watch their full bodies as Jake stood and claimed another kiss, both his hands cupping Chance's face as they pressed their bodies together under the hot spray.

"Want inside you," Chance purred deeply, reaching for the lube they'd selected and rubbing against Jake shamelessly. They kissed again, hot and hungry, before Jake moved back just a bit and turned around.

He braced his hands against the shower wall, his legs spread and his tail raised along his back as he looked over his shoulder at his partner and lover.

Chance didn't take very long to prep Jake, but it was clear from both their actions that it was due more to extensive experience and, possibly, a fondness for rough play on Jake's part than to any lack of concern on Chance's. The stocky kat wrapped his arms around his lover, pressing close to his back, kissing his neck as he shifted to press himself into Jake's body.

They both moaned deeply. Jake let his head fall down, relaxing in a total submission that Chance relished in. Their coupling was slow at first, each of them savoring the feelings of the other's body despite long familiarity. Chance reached down to cup Jake's balls, then closed his hand around the smaller Kat's penis and began to stroke in a counter-rhythm to his thrusts.

Beverly wondered, idly, just how long they had been a couple; there was a blend of excitement and familiarity between the two of them that she rarely saw in her line of work.

Of course, in her line of work, she _did_ typically only see the dysfunctional relationships. Had to remember that, once in a while, especially when dealing with a couple that seemed to be anything but dysfunctional. It would figure they would be both gay and alien. She shook her head. She really needed to get out and be reminded that her client list were not typical people.

Her attention was drawn back to the display as Chance shifted his head, closing his jaws around the scruff of Jake's neck in a gesture that was at once intensely possessive and loving, pressing the smaller kat's chest against the tiled wall as he started to thrust more quickly. His hand's movement continued to match his hips, though his coordination was less precise. Each time Jake tightened the muscles of his lower body the tabby grunted and thrust in hard only to pull out slowly, making sure they both felt every soft 'barb' with the movement.

"Ch-chance ...." Jake half-whimpered, his body trembling as he held himself back from the edge of orgasm.

The tabby didn't say a word; he just shifted his hips a bit, rubbing more towards the front of Jake's body and focusing on the barbed tip of the smaller kat, trying to push them both over the edge at the same time.

It was only moments before Beverly recognized the stiffness and loss of control of an orgasm ripple through Jake's body, followed within seconds by Chance's. In yet another similarity to humans, Jake's semen was milky white and gooey before the water washed it down the drain.

As they both worked to catch their breath, Jake's arms braced against the wall were about the only think keeping them from slipping to the floor. Again, it was a position they both understood how to maintain despite shaky legs and limited body control.

"Love how you do that," Jake murmured and turned his head to nuzzle Chance.

"I love you," he purred in reply and slowly moved his hands up Jake's body. "Never thought I could trust anyone like you."

"Ah, buddy, we'll do what's best for _us_ ," Jake caught his partner's hand and squeezed it gently. "Whatever it is, we'll manage."

"We always have."

"Love you too much to do anything else," Jake smiled and kissed him as best he could.

"Mmm ... let's get cleaned up for real, and relax a bit," Chance murmured, kissing him back before pulling out with a groan, the two of them quickly washing up with the efficiency of people used to the chance of being called out in the middle of a shower, though drying off took significantly longer.

Jake grabbed a couple brushes and Chance grabbed their clothing before they headed back into the bedroom.

"I forgot how funny you look towel-dried," Jake snickered and hopped onto the plush king-sized bed.

"Oh like _you're_ one to talk," Chance huffed playfully, licking Jake's cheek. "At least I've got short fur. We'll be combing you out all night. Have to see if we can get any decent fur brushes around here," he mused, looking at what they had as Beverly made a mental note to suggest a pet shop.

"Like you've ever minded, whether I need it or not," Jake chuckled and picked up a brush to start working on Chance's chest. "At least this time we landed somewhere relatively civilized."

"Yeah, there's definitely something to be said for that," Chance admitted, letting Jake groom him before working on his mate's longer, fluffier fur.

"So what do you think of this place so far?" Jake asked a bit hesitantly.

"Haven't seen much of it," Chance admitted. "It's... _real_ different from back home. Not necessarily in a bad way, but it is. Feels... a little too _clean_ , you know what I mean?"

"Yeah, I know what you mean," he nodded. "I can see how it happens though too. They're pretty careful about who lives here, and what they put in front of visitors. It's a lot more normal than it looks like, I'm pretty sure."

"It'd just about have to be," Chance pointed out with a chuckle, groaning a bit as Jake found a particularly pleasant spot to brush out. "I just dunno, Jake. It's not a bad place but...."

"But it's not MegaKat City," Jake nodded slightly. "That's not necessarily a bad thing, y'know. Might be nice to go a week without something trying to tear the city apart or blow it up."

"They don't seem much calmer," Chance reminded him.

"But they don't act like they _need_ us," Jake paused in his brushing to kiss his partner. "Chance, think about having something happen and not _have_ to go up."

"Feral never acted like he needed us either," Chance countered softly. "Might be nice though... just hard to think about everything that's behind us."

"I know," Jake rested his head against Chance's chest. "I'm not sure either, but it seems like a pretty nice place to retire."

"That might be part of it," Chance mused, rubbing Jake's back gently before starting to brush him out carefully, watching for tangles in his fur. "Guess I never thought about retiring. Always seemed pretty much a given what'd happen, even before SWAT."

There was a long pause, long enough to still Chance's brushing efforts. "Jake? You _did_ know an Enforcer pilot has maybe a two year life expectancy, right?"

"I knew," he admitted very quietly. "Why I chose to be a gunner. They don't fair any better and I didn't make it into the pilot program. That was a long time ago too."

It was Chance who wasn't sure what to say this time and Beverly leaned forward in interest. After at least fifteen years together, to have a surprise come up so casually was likely to be interesting. Eventually the tabby turned his smaller partner around to face him and cocked his head a bit to watch him in silence.

"What changed your mind?" He asked softly.

"Believe it or not, that first day in the salvage yard, when I promised you'd have your wings back," he smiled shyly and a little embarrassed. "It was the first time since collage that there was something only _I_ could do, and maybe keep you from having to go through what I did."

"Shit, Jake, I... I didn't know it was _that_ bad for you," Chance murmured, kissing his cheek softly. "You're over that part of it now, right?"

"Yes," he nodded seriously. "Now ... I'm just starting to feel my age, starting to wonder just what I'm going to leave behind that'll matter."

"You've made a lot of changes, Jake," Chance murmured, nuzzling his neck and brushing him out more. "Even if we don't go back there's all the designs that were left behind, a nearly finished TurboKat, all the other gear ... they'll do a lot with those once they find the place."

"True," he murmured, something in his manner not quite right to Beverly. It was very similar to patients who wanted to tell her something, but weren't sure how to start. "It's kind of a cold legacy."

Chance groaned softly and rested his head on Jake's shoulder as it suddenly clicked. "This is no time to have a mid-life crisis," he told Jake firmly.

"It's not a crisis," Jake objected weakly. "I'm almost forty and the only accomplishment I have I can't talk about."

"There's so much wrong with that statement it's not funny," Chance murmured. "Jake... if you're looking for family, that's not really something we'll be able to do around here either," he pointed out gently. "Not unless something real weird happens."

"I don't really have a chance back home either. At least here it's not taunting me," Jake tried to explain, only to get a funny look from his partner. "You know my folks died a few years ago?"

"Yeah, I remember. You didn't want me to go to the funeral," Chance tried to keep the upset frustration from his voice. "And you wouldn't tell me why."

"Because I could barely make myself go," Jake muttered, more than a bit of pain and hatred showing in flattened ears and a lashing tail. "I knew I was going to catch enough hell just showing up alone. Showing up with another tom and no son would have gotten someone killed."

"Not one of us," Chance said darkly, the tip of his tail twitching in irritation. "Guess the Clawson family's one of the old-fashioned ones?"

Jake had to think about that for a while, the fire gone almost instantly as he thought about the part of his heritage he'd only just started to have a kinship with. "Not so much that as very scared that there won't be any kits past me," he glanced up, the anger gone, replaced by a mixture of sadness and regret at a legacy he was only beginning to appreciate. "We were a pretty big clan in my great-grandparent's time. Now it's just me. Everyone else was a sterile, or only had a few kits who didn't have any, or never managed to have kits at all. Grandmother told of her parents having eight hundred kin attend from half way around the world. My folks only had nine, including me. Now there are just six of my blood-kin left. I'm the youngest by almost thirty years and the only one who still might have kits."

"Jake... you can't beat yourself up about that," Chance said softly, hugging him tight and putting the brush down. Beverly made a brief note to bring this up with Stark; there were possibilities here that might appeal to this desire of Jake's as well.

"I know," he whispered and let himself be buried against Chance's broad chest. "I know. I just ... my kits ... by a well-chosen dame ... they could revolutionize the world. I know it sounds cold and egotistical, but I'm damn good genetic stock and so's my family. Is it really so odd to want to see brilliance continued?"

"No," Chance admitted. "But... what is it that made most of 'em sterile? How do you even know you aren't?"

He squirmed a bit before settling down to answer. "Because my folks had me tested when I was sixteen and I haven't been injured since."

"So it's something genetic?" Chance asked gently.

"Genetics, injuries, disease, death. A lot of it's just bad luck," he murmured the top causes he knew of. "Something kicks in with about a third of toms around fifty. Still don't know what, sex isn't affected but they stop producing sperm."

"Wish I'd known before, that you actually wanted kits," Chance murmured, kissing his cheek lightly. "Always figured you didn't, what with being so into guys."

"Still working it all out," Jake nuzzled him softly. "Some days I do ... some days ..." he shook his head. "If I'd really gotten to the point where I was ready, I'd have told you. This ... Eureka ... it's made me think about a lot of things I'm not done with."

"And wonder about how many of 'em you can live with leaving left not-done," Chance guessed. "Maybe think about it in the morning? I mean... doesn't matter that much until the TurboKat's repaired anyway."

"And figure out how we got here, so I have a clue about getting us back if we decide to go back," Jake kissed him softly, a desire for the contact rather than our of physical desire. "Tomorrow ... why don't you check out town, play with Beverly, and we'll just check in every hour or so," Jake suggested. "I know you don't want to spend all day at Global Dynamics watching me play with that Harrier."

"True," Chance admitted. "Thanks," he nuzzled his partner. "I'll keep in touch."

Beverly made a mental note to get Stark to give their communication system clearance to transmit into and out of Global Dynamics. She did not want to be around either one if that call didn't go though.

"So will I," Jake smiled and kissed him soundly before resting his head on Chance's broad shoulder. "I think you have the right idea. I've thought too much for one night."

"Who are you, and what have you done with Jake?" Chance teased, licking his cheek and snuggling close to him as they crawled under the covers.

"He's having a mid-life crisis," Jake half-teased back and ran his hands along Chance's flank. "Care to take his mind off of it?"

"Mmm ... I think I can manage," Chance purred, kissing him deeply and rolling him to his back.

* * *

Carter groaned and stretched his stiff shoulders when his phone beeped at him in a reminder of the time. He glanced at the wall clock and sighed before he flipped the phone opened and dialed his home.

"Checking on Zoe?" Jo asked, still working on the forms.

"No, making sure S.A.R.A.H. doesn't lock me out when I get back," he said dryly. "At least she wasn't planning on pot roast tonight, or I'd never heard the end of it. Thought I was done with this sort of thing after my divorce," he muttered quietly, waiting for his house to pick up on the other end.

"S.A.R.A.H. here, what can I do for you, Sheriff Carter?" Her feminine voice answered.

"Yeah, S.A.R.A.H., I'm afraid I've been caught up with paperwork since about eleven and it looks like I'm only about half-way through it. Not sure when I'll be home, but we had some major Eureka-only weirdness this morning, so... you know how it gets sometimes."

He had to say one thing for his house. At least its A.I. _did_ understand that his job sometimes kept him out late, and didn't really resent it as long as he let it know before dinner.

At least, not as far as he could tell.

"I will make sure Zoe eats a nutritious dinner and goes to bed on time then," she answered sweetly. "I will have something warm to eat and a cold beer ready when you get done, Sheriff Carter."

"Thanks. And make sure Zoe _doesn't_ get the last part of that," he chuckled slightly. "Is she around? Want to let her know too." And make sure she hadn't picked today to get suspended or something.

There was a pause he now recognized as S.A.R.A.H. interfacing with Eureka's private internet to look up where the girl was.

"She is at Cafe Diem. Would you like me to transfer your call to her phone?"

"Nah, I'll just go let her know myself. Thanks S.A.R.A.H.," he said, waiting for her polite reply before hanging up.

"Zoe's over at the Cafe Diem, so I'm going to go let her know not to worry," he explained to Jo. "Want me to bring you something to eat?"

"Sure," she grinned and began to formulate another attempt to stump Vincent.

"Jo, write it down if you want anything I don't normally order," he warned her.

"Right," she shook her head and quickly scribbled her order down and handed it over.

He glanced over it.

"Is this in French?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Cambodian takes too long to write unless you're sloppy," she shrugged with a bit of a smirk.

"You're lucky Zoe's over there or I'd just have you go order," Carter muttered, shaking his head as he grabbed his jacket and made the brief trip across the street, looking for his daughter.

Her bright pink hair made her easy to spot in the small room. He was half surprised to find her alone and only drinking a milkshake ... or something that looked like one.

Not knowing just how long it'd take Vincent to handle Jo's order, he headed up to the counter first.

"My usual and whatever it is Jo wrote down here, to go," he said easily.

"You know, 'the usual' _isn't_ particularly challenging, Sheriff," Vincent observed disapprovingly.

"Maybe not, Vincent, but when you've got another six hours of paperwork ahead of you, challenging isn't that interesting," Carter pointed out. "Tell you what, next time Jo comes in here for us, I'll let her order for me."

He could see the man literally light up in anticipation and took the paper to look it over. "Ready in fifteen," he grinned and headed into the kitchen to get to work.

"Memo to self; don't let Jo come order for the two of us for a while," Carter murmured to himself before turning and heading over to his daughter. "Hey, Zoe, how's it going?"

"Is it true?" She nearly jumped out of her seat, easily more animated than he'd seen her in weeks.

"Is... what true?" He asked, taking a seat. He honestly _hoped_ it was just the dogfight, given her tone. Anything that'd make her that excited either had to be very unusual, or something that would give him ulcers.

Possibly both, but he hoped it was just the first one for now.

"That there are aliens ... a dragon and two cats that fly that kick-ass jet?" Her words had most of the cafe paying attention now.

He was going to have to have a long talk with Spencer about talking about this sort of thing. The dragon he expected they'd have heard about, honestly - hard to miss it. But the fact that the other two had been cat-aliens... that was pretty much straight Spencer.

"There was a dragon and a jet that showed up over Henry's, yes," he said, trying to pick out how much to say and how _not_ to say what he didn't want to. "As for the rest, I don't know how much I'm supposed to be saying yet. There were two people in the jet, and they're going to be sticking around at least until they can get it repaired, but they're trying to keep as low a profile as they can, last I heard."

"So they're at Beverly's?" a middle-aged man Carter couldn't put a name to right away asked eagerly.

"I don't honestly know," Carter said, grateful for once that, technically, he didn't. "They might be at Global yet, for all I know. Really, I don't know that much beyond they were there, there were two of them, and they might be leaving in the next few days, or they might not."

"Did you invite them to dinner?" Zoe asked, nearly bouncing in her exuberance.

Carter could feel the ulcers forming already. Leave it to his daughter to have a fascination with the one kind of alien that had shown up on his doorstep.

"No," he said, shaking his head. "Actually, that's what I was coming over here about. No surprise, but aliens of any sort showing up above Eureka, even if it had just been the dragon, involves enough paperwork to deforest the state. So I probably won't be home until late tonight, unless somebody around here's got paperwork gnomes sitting in their lab waiting to get to work."

"No gnomes, but I've been working with gerbils...." somebody started, then quieted down before Carter could identify them.

Lucky for them.

"Dad, who else is going to show them that there are _normal_ people around?" Zoe said, somewhere between a plead and a dare. "Besides, everybody else is going to want to poke and prod them."

"Zoe...." He sighed, shaking his head. "I'll think about it. But _definitely_ not tonight."

"All right. Look, Spencer is having a movie night, can I go, since you won't be home? I don't have school tomorrow," she reminded him.

"It's not 'They Came to Conquer,' is it?" He asked her warily.

"They came out _months_ ago," she rolled her eyes. "You know he won't say what it is."

"All right," he assented. "But _any_ paranoid delusions after this one, and it's the last one."

"Come on dad, that hasn't happened since either," she muttered.

"Then there shouldn't be any problems, should there?" He pointed out easily. "Remember to let S.A.R.A.H. know, and that I said it's okay. She was expecting you back home some time tonight too, after all."

"Will do," she nodded. "Your dinner's up."

"See you tomorrow," he said, standing up and giving her shoulder a light squeeze before heading over to pick up the two boxed dinners, trying not to think too hard about what it was that Jo had ordered, since about the only smell coming from her box he _could_ figure out was ginger.


	2. To Catch a Kat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beverly has an extremely productive day in understanding her new subjects and Chance has one hell of a day exploring Eureka.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written with Karl Wolfemann

Beverly groaned and cracked an eye open when her alarm went off.

5 AM.

"What in the world is he doing up this early?" she muttered and rolled from her bed, grateful that a robe over her translucent nightgown would be quite sufficient. She made a brief pause in her bathroom for perfume, a quick hair brushing and a few dabs of makeup to perfect the image she was looking to project right now before she headed downstairs to see what she could learn from Jake without his more boisterous and gregarious partner around.

She found him dressed in the clothes he'd worn the day before; a blue, red and black flight suit that had probably seen many days of wear already, though he'd left his black bandana mask, helmet and fancy metal gauntlets in his room. While he was wearing the holo-belt, it wasn't activated. She wished she'd been able to wash their clothes before turning in for the night, but getting them out of the guy's room turned out to be more trouble than it was worth.

She still had no idea how they'd managed to lock the door in a way she couldn't open on her own, but something in the back of her mind warned her it was only the beginning of the difficulties they'd create for her without even trying.

"Are you usually up this early?" She asked Jake as she got a pot of coffee started.

"More or less," he nodded, a bit surprised to see anyone else coherent enough for conversation. "Chance'll sleep as late as you let him," he chuckled a bit and began to nose around the kitchen for breakfast.

"Milk in the fridge, cereal in the cupboard if you want it," she offered. "Or I could make something up, if you'd prefer, but it's a little early for a big breakfast. And somehow, I'm not surprised," she chuckled. The tabby struck her as the sort to prefer sleeping in ... probably spent enough nights out late to make it necessary.

Of course Jake had been up just as late, but he'd hardly be the first inventor who didn't sleep enough or napped more than slept.

"You didn't need to get up on my account," Jake told her out of the blue as he pulled down a loaf of bread and dropped two slices in a toaster he apparently recognized how to operate.

"It's not a problem," she said with a smile as he started putting a simple breakfast together. Toast with butter, peanut butter and jelly, eggs over easy, Canadian bacon, hash browns, and coffee with a lot of cream. "If I'm still tired, I'll go back to bed a bit later. Actually, I was hoping to talk to you on your own a bit, before you went in to Global today."

"What do you want to know?" he asked as he put his meal together.

"Well, for one thing, if you're thinking of sticking around more than just long enough to make your repairs?" She asked, pouring herself a cup of coffee and adding some sweetener before taking a drink of the strong, still bitter liquid.

"Considering it," he nodded between bites of well-doctored toast. "A lot goes into a choice like that."

"Even when you're not talking about leaving an entire world behind," she nodded understandingly. "Like being one of only two members of your species on the entire planet?" She guessed.

"A planet that isn't used to other species running around," Jake added. 

"How does that make you feel?" She asked him. "In parts, and whole," she added, recognizing the generally non-communicative nature on instinct by now.

"Hunted," he shrugged. "Hiding is hiding, and hunted is what we've been for a long time. Back home it's personal, here, it's just how things are."

"Something you think you'd come to resent, over time?" She asked him, trying to keep a close eye on how much she pried, and how he was reacting to it. Anyone who'd spent their adult life in hiding, a vigilante with a good heart and a law enforcement background was likely to at least dislike prying and be damn good at recognizing it.

"Eventually," he admitted after a sip of coffee. "Chance'll hate it first. Always has."

"Anything you can think of that'd make it easier for the two of you? If you're sticking around, we'd like to make it as pleasant for you both as possible."

Jake looked up at her, really considering the question in the way of many geniuses when presented a problem they hadn't anticipated.

"Chance will have his own list, the top of which is to keep flying," Jake started with what was honestly the top issue in his mind. He looked down at his food, then leaned back a bit and sank into his own mind as a kind of shield against what he was revealing about himself. "The one thing we don't have back home. Public recognition for what we do."

"You're familiar with what it's like, working for a corporation as an inventor?" She asked him. "You'd have recognition, but not the primary recognition from the average person."

He looked at her a little oddly, then shrugged. "Never got the chance to find out. But the average person doesn't know many inventors or scientists anyway," he glanced away a bit. "Peers ... that's something else."

"Peer recognition you'd have, working here," she said confidently. "And a city almost entirely full of your peers, in the truest sense."

"Except for the lack of fur," he chuckled. "How'd you end up here?"

"Doctoral thesis on psycho-sexual issues as they correlated to intelligence and education," Beverly chuckled, finishing her coffee. "Somebody around here found it, and after my professional experience proved I had what they needed around here, they offered me a contract with Global. You might be amazed how many repressed issues there are around here that people need help dealing with, particularly sexual issues."

"Given the way the sheriff and his deputy acted, I'm not that surprised," Jake actually snickered. "Never had a guy get quite that look on his face after being called cute."

"You'll get used to it, I'm sure," Beverly chuckled. "And I'm not surprised at all. Sheriff Carter is... very much an alpha male, in his way. Very traditional as well, particularly in bed. I'd be surprised if he ever gave more than a passing thought to being with another man, and that not recently."

"Sounds like Chance, before we met," Jake smiled fondly for that long-ago time. "Still not sure which of us has benefited more for that bit of bureaucratic chance."

"I imagine it was fairly equal," she smiled. "He was pretty much straight then, before the two of you hooked up?"

It took an extra half-second for the translator, and Jake's own intelligence, to figure out what she'd just asked. "Still is, to be honest. Kat's not really into guys on his own. He just doesn't object to it," he looked down and ran his thumb around the rim of his coffee mug. "Love doesn't always include physical attraction."

"Very true," Beverly nodded. "How does it feel, knowing you're one of the only males he's really interested in?"

"Pretty special," he laughed softly. "I would even if he'd never slept with me. Loyalty is worth a lot more than love in our circles. A partner is going to be there, a mate isn't likely to last."

"The divorce rates in your world for people in law enforcement and the military isn't much better than it is here, I take it?" Beverly asked sympathetically. "At least it looks like you two have found a way to beat it."

"Maybe one in ten last five years, one in a hundred survive twenty," Jake nodded. "At least when all sides aren't in the field," he sipped his coffee slowly. "Partnered lovers and mates are watched very closely for trouble, but more often than not we have fewer problems than when one side is safe at home."

"Actually higher rates than around here," Beverly mused. "Would you like a different topic?" She offered.

"Yeah," he murmured and focused on his toast for a moment to try and get his mind off where it was headed.

"Do you have any reservations about sharing your inventions and technology with us here?" She asked, very intentionally picking one that was well away from the topic they'd just been on while still being of very distinct interest.

"I may not be very social, but I haven't been that naive in a long time," he chuckled a bit. "I don't know enough about this world, much less Global Dynamics, to not have some serious reservations. Small advances to what you already have ... I'm not exactly giving anything you don't already know if you just think to ask the right questions of the right people. Something like the TurboKat, Cyclotron or Glovatrix is going to involve a lot of information coming my way first."

"About?" She asked him curiously. "Our world, or Global?"

"All of it," he smiled a bit shyly, though she had no doubt he could turn that shyness off when he really wanted to. He had to have a core of steel to lead someone as outgoing, dominant and social as his partner with the level of control he'd already shown her. "I've met more than a few groups who could put on a very good front when they were anything but. I do have some standards for what my creations are used for."

"Fair enough," she nodded slightly. "I'm sure you won't have any real trouble finding out about them, though I hope you'll keep in mind that our country's current foreign policy won't be a sustained issue," she chuckled.

"It rarely is," he said drolly. "I'm more interested in long-term patterns than what this year's trouble is."

"That will be easy enough to get a hold of," she nodded easily. "There are definite patterns involved, region-wide in many cases. How complicated were politics back home, beyond the short-term?"

"Depends on where you're standing," he considered the question and how to answer in less than a full day. "Almost three hundred governments worldwide, though only nine are large and advanced enough to threaten more than their immediate neighbors for any length of time. Government types range the full spectrum; empires, democratic empires, tribal, true democracies, republics, pirate zones, anarchies, corporate lands, privately owned ... every system I've ever heard of is still around."

"I could see that being complicated, though it sounds similar to how it is around here," she nodded slightly. "More of them in total, but we've got a pretty good cross-section of systems still around. And more that have power. Fortunately, at least in my mind, Eureka's in one of the strongest ones, that's generally pretty good about not abusing its power as badly as a lot of others do these days."

"Always a good combination," he nodded. "MegaKat City's in a similar position, though no one wants to invade us these days out of fear of inheriting our Omega problem."

"Omega?" She asked, trying to figure out what it would refer to. "The giant monsters and such?"

"Yeah. Super powered criminals, giant monsters, giant robots, ancient gods ... everything that the regular Enforcers just aren't equipped to deal with. Living weapons of mass destruction."

"Something we very rarely have to deal with... our greatest evils and destructive forces have usually been under the control of governments, though I'm not always sure if that's a good thing," she nodded slightly. "Do you have an appointment with Global soon?"

"Allison said she'd be here around eight," he told her. "Just can't sleep that late without sedatives."

"About two hours then," she smiled slightly in the fairly dark room. "If you'd like, I do have a few ideas for ways to spend the time...."

"I'm listening," he looked at her with open curiosity.

"Well, the offer you were encouraging Chance to take is open to you too, for starters," she chuckled, moving a bit closer, not reaching out to touch him just yet. She knew he was at least somewhat bisexual, but she didn't want to come on too strong just yet either, given his apparent preference for males.

He blinked a couple times and shifted back in his seat fractionally. Not out of fear, or disgust, or anything she would have to worry about, but he was openly startled to the point of not responding for a long moment.

"I don't know what your tastes are in females, but I am considered attractive and I am interested," she added.

He swallowed, his eyes going over her body with a very different intent than before. This time he was looking at her as a potential lover and liked what he saw. Still he shook his head a bit.

"Sorry, look it's nothing personal. I'm just not into casual like Chance is," Jake managed to get out.

"No problem," she said easily, accepting it just as well. "In that case, would you like to get a quick introduction to local computers and our network system?"

"Yes," he let out a small breath of relief and made extremely short work of his cold breakfast.

* * *

Two hours later Beverly was dressed and waiting for Stark and Allison to get back from Global once Jake was thoroughly tied up in his work on the Harrier's VTOL system. She wasn't sure when Chance would be up, but she was fairly sure he wouldn't be awake before they were done with the main part of their conversation.

"So, how much of a feel do you have for them?" Stark asked as he stepped into the house, Allison not far behind him.

"Enough for a preliminary profile," Beverly told him and lead the pair into the secure parlor where she could keep an eye on her guest and he was very unlikely to just wander in.

"That's a start," he nodded slightly as the three of them took their seats and Beverly brought up the written part of her report for them to skim while they talked.

"Once you look past the cosmetic differences, they are amazingly human-like both physically and I would say psychologically," she began. "The most important factor when dealing with these two is the one you are not talking to," she explained. "Like most of the best special operations teams they are intensely loyal to each other, to the point that they will both give up what they want for the good of the other. Jake may be the one you want and what he wants is going to be important, but Chance is the swing vote. If he's not happy, they will leave."

"And what would be the best approach to getting his interest?" Stark asked, folding his hands together as he considered their options. "Convincing him that it's in Jake's best interests, or appealing to him directly?"

"Appealing to him directly. Forget that you really want Jake. Want them both." Beverly told him. "They both want similar things in very different ways. Chance wants to fly top-line aircraft, have recognition for the quality pilot he is and help people. He's still very much into partying, fooling around and the working class idea of the nice things in life."

"Do you think he has what it takes to be a test pilot?"

"Yes," Beverly nodded. "From what he has done in the last decade, he has the intelligence, reflexes, determination and clear head under stress to manage."

"And how does he handle limitations?" Stark asked knowingly. "If he's told to come back in or eject, can we trust him to do so?"

"To come back, I am fairly sure he would unless he had a _very_ good reason not to. To eject, not likely unless Jake ordered it. This is subject to change if he begins to trust those making the calls. Right now his issues with authority figures come from a long history of having very bad calls made by them. He is not that rebellious by his inherent nature. It is largely a learned behavior. If anything, he wants to get along with authority, he just hasn't managed to yet."

"Irritating, but something that can be overcome," Stark murmured, nodding slightly. "Is there anything else you can think of off the top of your head that I should know about them?"

"They are long-term lovers, though decidedly not exclusive, particularly where Chance is concerned," she began with the first thing to come to mind. "Jake longs for recognition by his peers and needs to make a difference with his work. The following I do not officially know. Being blacklisted made him passively suicidal, though that is a decade in past. He is also having a mid-life crisis, by their own words, as the only member of a formerly large family that can still reproduce with only a decade left to try. It is likely to be the biggest stumbling block, or your best card, in his case, as there are several possibilities I am aware of at Global Dynamics that could be used in approaching him."

"Another of the idealistic scientists, or more pragmatic than most we get through here?"

"Considering his results that we can see and what conditions he created them under, I'd say he's quite pragmatic," Allison pointed out.

"That was personal," Stark reminded her. "It won't be here."

"I expect Jake is quite pragmatic, he simply has a moral code that makes him want to be sure we are not like the Nazi's or a well-concealed terrorist state," Beverly said. "A key thing to remember with him is that when he was fresh out of college he tried to join a number of high-tech companies. In response he was blacklisted from the entire industry and the work he used in his interviews was stolen, produced, and credited to others. There are obviously several missing pieces, likely things he does not even know. It has left him very wary of companies, but he is also willing to give Global Dynamics a chance. He wants this to work."

"So you get the feeling that he _does_ want to come over ... how is he taking to local language and technology?" Stark asked intently.

"Quite well," Beverly smiled slightly. "He will need the translation device for some time yet, but he is already using a handful of words correctly. I have also ordered a selection of books that will help them learn the more quirky aspects of US culture and key points of others. He is likely to be one of my easiest students."

"Good," he nodded. "How long do you think it would be before he'll be able to take a look at local news and historical information? I think that will be the best way to get him the information he'll want. Least biased," he chuckled slightly.

"He's already spent the morning cruising the Internet," Beverly chuckled. "By his request. He wanted to learn over sex."

"Well, he definitely belongs in Eureka," Allison chuckled.

"The most fascinating thing I have found so far is that their culture, history, technology and politics bear a striking resemblance to Earth. Not everything, by any means, but he understands the nature of politics, free media and business quite well. Better than some locals, though not as well as those here."

Stark leaned back and considered her. "You know, I think the strangest thing about all this is that our first contact procedures all assumed somebody who would be so far advanced beyond us they wouldn't understand our technology because they couldn't _remember_ that far back," he mused. "Probably the easiest test the system could have, with them. Key cultural differences we should know about?"

"Monogamy is common, but not standard," Beverly began easily. "Triads and other multiple-partner arrangements are accepted as well. While I did warn them, neither one would naturally recognize hitting on someone's spouse as taboo, or even a bad idea. While this could just be their sub-culture, I would expect that is it at least their country's norm. They have no real grasp on the idea that homosexuality, bisexuality and heterosexuality are different things. Chance strongly prefers women; by Jake's account he's simply not into guys despite their very physical in love relationship. He credits it more to circumstances than to Chance being physically attracted to him, though at this point I would say that belief is no longer accurate. Jake is only slightly more interested in women than Chance is in men."

"So a procreation method that does not require a woman would be of more interest to him than finding a woman interested in them and managing to get a pregnancy to work?" Stark interrupted her.

"Likely, yes, though he is unlikely to object to a woman," Beverly nodded. "The projects that would allow any children to be genetically both his and Chance's would likely appeal strongly to them both, once the shock wore off, regardless of how they would gestate. Their private discussions indicated to me that such technology is not publicly available on their world."

"It's still a good long way off of it here too, especially for an alien species," Stark reminded her. "But it might be a good idea to have them talk to Dr. Moreau; he'd be the one to ask about it."

"Agreed, as would Walter Perkins," Beverly said. "His cloning technology might be of extreme interest to Jake. A different take on the same general idea of a living legacy."

"Did you get a feel for how far ahead of the general technology curve what Jake builds is on his world?" Allison asked, a bit unsettled by what they were talking about doing.

"It varies," Beverly shook her head. "It is not too much of a surprise they advanced in a different pattern to us, but a rough estimate of their technology puts aircraft around what was public in the 1960's, helicopter technology not much more advanced, yet they have an internet and computers at least as advanced as ours. Laser technology is far in advance of us, but long-range missiles are all but unknown. Nuclear power and weapons are known but not a subject that seems to come up often. They have more serious concerns as Jake puts it."

"Which puts his jet about fifty years ahead of their technology curve, and weapons about five to ten?" Stark guessed. "I've gotten a look at some of what he has already. Putting it on mass-production should be worth quite a bit in Washington."

"Agreed," Beverly said. "Even more valuable is likely to be the less-than lethal and personal weapons. The Glovatrix, as he calls them, are decades beyond anything I've heard of even on drawing boards."

"Kind of like the jet's tesseract bomb bay, which has even Henry stunned," Allison added. "That could be fifty years ahead of us."

"That's one of the things we're most interested in," Stark nodded. "If he can show us how to make something like that, the personal applications alone are mind boggling."

"Which, coming from you, is quite a compliment," Allison mused.

"I _think_ Chance is finally starting to wake up," Beverly observed, glancing over at a light that flicked on and off in time with a light beep, telling her that the other person in the room was stirring. "Which would make this a good time to adjourn this little meeting, for now."

"Very well," Stark stood. "Hopefully he will be as informative as his partner."

"In his own way, I'm sure he will be," Beverly smiled and showed them to the door. "I hope you both have productive days, and that Jake does as well."

"I'm sure we will," Allison smiled slightly and walked to her car, already sure what was going to happen in the house for the rest of the morning.

Meanwhile, Chance groaned as he stretched out, not at all surprised to find the bed empty aside from him. Jake had probably been up for hours already.

He grabbed his pants, not bothering with a shirt just yet as he went to wash up quickly before going down to scrounge for some breakfast. While he wasn't expecting anything to come of it, he hadn't forgotten what Beverly had hinted at the night before. Despite a lack of ears and tail that gave her something of a mangled look, her face and curves were definitely attractive.

"Good morning, Chance," she called to him from the kitchen where she had poured herself a cup of coffee. The curvy form he'd just been thinking of was covered by little more than a loose satin robe of deep red.

"Morning," he called back with a bit of a grin. "Jake get going okay?"

"Yes," she smiled back at him. "Far too early in the morning for my taste."

"That's Jake," he chuckled. "If he sleeps until dawn, it's a late morning for him. Mind if I scrounge up something to eat?"

"Go ahead," she motioned towards the fridge and the rest of the room. "There is milk in the fridge, cereal in the cupboard if you want it, or I can make something up."

"I can handle it," Chance said, opening up the fridge and looking through. "Somebody else come through here? Thought I heard the door; if I have to get the belt I should probably do it now."

"They've left," she said easily. "Just don't answer the door with it off and it will be fine."

"M'kay," Chance nodded, pouring a glass of milk for himself. "So, y'don't mind it?" He asked with a chuckle, finding the cereal and starting to get some breakfast around.

"No," she smiled slightly behind her coffee mug. "I would hardly have offered to have sex if I did."

"Well, it could've just been professional interest," Chance pointed out with a chuckle, smirking a bit. "Or I could just be irresistible," he winked with an easy cockiness she was absolutely sure wasn't faked.

"Admittedly I do have a professional interest in the new and unusual," Beverly laughed easily. "It would certainly be a unique experience."

For a moment, she thought Chance was going to say something, but he apparently decided against whatever it was.

"So, should I leave breakfast for a while, or just eat fairly quickly?" He asked with a half-grin.

"Go on and eat, you'll need your strength," she intentionally gave a bit of a challenge to her tone.

"Well, sounds like you don't have any confidence problems," the tabby laughed, pouring himself a bowl of cereal and tucking into it.

"Neither do you," Beverly chuckled and watched him in a bit of amusement. "So what are your favorite fantasies?"

"Probably nothing you'd think was all that fancy," he chuckled. "I'd have to say my favorite would probably be me, Jake, and a fem with a strap-on on his other end."

"It is something you think he'd go for?" she asked with a bit of real curiosity. It would be quite an up close excuse to watch the pair interact.

"He has," Chance grinned and licked his whiskers back at the memories. "Damn that was hot. Don't know about whether or not he'd do it again though. Not unless it was somebody else like Felina... maybe Callie," he mused.

"A woman he cares about?" she barely had to guess, but it would be useful to have confirmation from both sides.

"Yeah," Chance nodded. "You know about Felina already; Callie was the deputy mayor back home. Had more brains in her tail than the mayor had in his fat carcass," he muttered. "She was definitely a looker, and interested in Jake, but it never got any farther than flirting, as far as I know."

"Would Jake have told you if it had?" She asked.

"Yeah, we don't keep that kind of thing a secret," he nodded seriously between mouthfuls of cereal.

"This morning, Jake said that you were not interested in males, how did the two of you end up together?"

"After we got booted from the Enforcers, things weren't good, even once Jake was working on the TurboKat," Chance admitted. "I had too much to drink one night, one thing led to another that I still can't really remember, and I didn't regret it in the morning. Jake was about ready to jump into a jet intake, but I managed to convince him it was okay. We'd been close before then, I just hadn't really been looking at him like that."

"Had you ever been with a guy before then?" she asked.

"A couple times," he admitted easily. "Fooling around in high school. I don't think I know of anybody that didn't experiment with both while they were figuring out what they liked. I just ended up deciding that it was generally fems. Nothing against guys, I just don't really like bottoming too much, and it doesn't really seem fair to top all the time."

"But it's worth it with Jake?" she asked, now curious about how this worked out in Chance's head.

"He prefers bottoming the way I prefer being on top," Chance chuckled slightly, finishing up his breakfast. "Every once in a while we trade places, and he _is_ worth it," the tabby said sincerely.

"I suspect he tries very hard to make it feel good, especially if it's not something you are into," Beverly said.

"Yeah, sometimes just a little too hard," Chance chuckled. "Overanalyzes once in a while. Kat needs to learn to relax."

"Very typical for brilliant scientist and inventor types," Beverly smiled at him. "He's actually quite relaxed compared to most of the folks here."

"And you have no idea how much of that took over a decade to knock into his head," Chance winked. "They figured they'd get me to tone down by pairing me with him. Instead, they got a second hell raiser."

"Much to their frustration, I am sure," Beverly chuckled. "Want anything else for breakfast?"

"Nah," Chance chuckled, taking the bowl over to the sink. "By the way, can you answer a question for me? About couples around here?"

"I'll answer anything I can," she nodded truthfully. "What would you like to know?"

"Well, you mentioned that most folks around here stick with one person, once they get serious. There any way to recognize somebody who's married _before_ making an ass of yourself?" He asked with a chuckle. "A few different ways back home, but they probably don't apply here."

"The simplest way is that most couples, whether married or just seriously dating, have exchanged rings. This is particularly true of a man giving a woman a ring as a gift or token of his feelings," she explained. "These are worn on the left ring finger," she held her bare one up to show him which. "Which does bring up another point. If you are considering a gift, be very careful about picking out a ring, particularly a gold band with a diamond. They are meant for a marriage proposal here."

"Thanks for the warning," Chance said, his tail fluffing out a bit as he thought about it. "What sort of thing is usually appropriate?"

"Flowers, particularly roses, chocolate or other sweets and jewelry other than rings are the most common. Around here you'll find more exotic things, mostly related to the recipient's interests. You'll find the storekeepers more than willing to help you out if you find yourself wanting to buy something for someone, and I would be more than willing to help out as well. I do know almost everyone in Eureka quite well."

"Thanks," Chance said, nodding slightly. "Don't expect it to come up very often, but the ring sure could have. Back home it was usually a collar or something like that," he chuckled. "Jake and I never exchanged 'em because they'd be too easy to trace."

"Quite understandable," she nodded and shifted a bit to loosen her silky robe. "Perhaps it is something to consider if you stay. You have as strong a bond as any married couple I know of."

"Eventually, yeah," Chance nodded slightly. "Have to talk to Jake about it first, of course."

"Of course," she agreed with him simply because there was no reason not to. "Was there anything else you wanted to know?"

"Nope. Not just now, anyways," he said, looking her up and down as he tried to relax himself out of thinking about things and into just acting. It wasn't something that was particularly difficult for the tabby to do, to be honest, particularly when a fem with an attractive body that was only barely concealed took his hand and guided him to her bedroom.

"Is there anything you would like to try?" Beverly asked seductively as she stopped in front of her bed to turn and look him up and down.

"I'm usually the one asking that question," Chance chuckled, stepping a bit closer to her. "Can't think of anything unusual. Suppose I should ask about what you've got to make sure we don't accidentally find out humans and kats can crossbreed?"

"I'm on birth control," she smiled up at him and reached out to run her fingers through the thick fur of his chest. "So soft."

"Never hurts to check," Chance purred, reaching up to rub her arm lightly. "Smooth," he observed, only slightly surprised. Every person he'd seen so far looked like their bare skin was smoother than what he was used to back home. It made sense with the lack of fur, but it was still different.

Beverly simply smiled and shifted her shoulders to allow her silken robe to drift to the floor, leaving her naked as she knelt on her large bed and slowly made a display of her fine body as she lay back, watching him the whole time.

Chance undid his pants, letting them fall to the floor before climbing onto the bed with her, exploring her tall, slender body lightly with his broad, furry fingers. He quickly appreciated that she was at least as skilled as he was, subtly guiding his touch to places that felt particularly good while generally letting him do as he pleased.

"Lemme know if anything hurts," he told her, despite being sure she would, already making a mental note to do his best to keep his claws in. "Kats are built a little rough."

"I will," she promised and reached down to roll his velvety balls between her slender fingers even as she spread her legs to encourage the feather-light touch of his tail there.

He turned his tail up, rubbing it against her sex and inner thighs with a groan. One of his hands found its way to her breasts as he shifted up to kiss the nape of her neck.

"Oh, yes," she moaned, her arousal growing strong enough to start to have an effect on him even as she slid her hand up to wrap her hand around his hard penis, her long fingernails playing with the soft but stiff protrusions.

Chance's breath caught as she did so, and she mentally noted how much of a hot spot they were. He ran his thumb around the darker skin of her areola, the very tip of one claw coming out to add a little extra to the sensation. He worked his other hand down to rub just above where her tail would have been if she'd been another kat.

He moved down to the curve as her ass as it became apparent that wasn't a human hot spot, then along her up to slide his fingers along the slick lips between her legs and slowly rubbed his body along hers without disrupting their mutual exploration and the increasing pleasure it brought.

He spread the lips of her sex, slipping his fingers down and pressing one of the thick, powerful members up into her body, exploring inside of her slowly. The back of his mind was still a bit surprised at the physical similarities between kats and humans, but it only lasted until she whispered in his ear to take her.

He pulled his tail back out of the way, shifting his hand to spread the lips of her sex as he shifted, slowly starting to press his shaft up into her with a deep groan, watching for any sign of real discomfort on her part. All he got was pleasure as she wrapped her legs around him and tightened her body with needy sounds each time he pulled back.

He groaned as his stiff, rubbery barbs worked back and forth inside her body, and started to thrust in earnest as he rolled up on top of her. His broad, muscular chest rubbed against hers as he purred deeply. He wrapped an arm around her back, rubbing her smooth, soft body with the short fur that covered him.

She reached around and began to rub his back with her fingers, moaning and moving in time with him as they pleasured each other intently.

He shifted, pressing up into her touch with a groan as she found the spot just above his tail, adjusting his thrusts to find her g-spot and rub his textured length against it, his balls starting to tingle as he felt his first orgasm approaching.

He groaned as he spilled his seed into her body, feeling the soft, warm walls of her sex contract around him as her entire body stiffened. Practically without missing a beat, the tabby started again, the two of them settling in for a long, _very_ pleasant morning's recreation.

* * *

Jake rippled the fur all along his body and stretched out after several hours of dismantling and rebuilding an aircraft that was giving him serious flashbacks to his Enforcer days. There wasn't a hint of elegance or grace about it to him, despite what some of the others said. The Harrier was all brute force in its gravity-defiance; excellent proof of the concept that if you strapped enough power to it a boulder could fly.

Unfortunately, everything he'd read and seen about it was also proof of the concept that even if you strapped all the power in the world to one, boulders weren't _meant_ to fly. It was a decent enough fighter, but the repairs it needed almost constantly made it a disaster waiting to happen.

Chance probably could have handled it, but Jake wouldn't have wanted him to. Fortunately, now that he understood most of how the fighter went together, he already had a few ideas of how to improve it without doing what he really wanted to do, which was start from scratch. Only so much could be done with an inherently flawed system.

He worked his way inside the guts of the jet again, completely absorbed by the challenge of making the monstrosity safe to fly.

He wasn't sure how much later it was when he jumped up sharply, hitting his head on the bottom of the jet with a clang. He didn't even really realize what it was that made him bolt up like that until he felt something pulling on his tail, teeth working lightly on the fluffy length with casual determination.

"What the hell?" Jake twisted around as he slid out to stare at a scruffy-looking gray dog with some of the longest fur he'd seen on one before. Without actually thinking about it, he reflexively identified the animal as an otter hound with something else likely mixed in, twenty-seven and a half inches at the withers and a bit over a hundred pounds. "Let go," he swatted at the large canine.

"What kind of cat are you?" The dog asked, backing off, looking at him warily as the lean Kat tried to dry the dog slobber out of his tail.

"The alien kind," Jake answered easily, only dimly surprised to be having a full-fledged conversation with an apparent animal. "Name's Jake. What's yours?"

"Lojack's what they call me," the dog said, sitting and cocking his head. "How are we talking?"

"Henry gave me a translator so I could talk with the humans. Apparently it works with any language," Jake looked at him. "You can't talk with the humans?"

"Nope," the dog said easily, giving a canine grin, as he wagged his tail. "Probably lucky for Chaser," he woofed.

"Likely," Jake chuckled, though he wasn't honestly sure who was being referred to. It was true regardless. "Are most dogs as smart as you?"

"Nope," Lojack said easily, scratching his neck idly. "I'm one of the little pet projects here they don't like to talk about anymore."

"Do you know what they meant you for?" Jake asked curiously, and just a bit disturbed.

"You're new here, aren't you?" Lojack asked, laughing a bit. "They'd been planning on me going back to being the 'office dog,'" he said with a definite sense of disdain. "Of course, they'd also been planning on my IQ still being a smart dog's, not a smart human's."

"Very new," Jake confirmed with a nod. "So you run loose now?"

"Yep. Got out while they were trying to figure out what to do. Spend my days running free and hassling Chaser. He's smart enough to help make me, but he's never really caught me... you do the math," he laughed again.

"I'm sure it drives him crazy too," Jake snickered.

"It does," he barked in delight. "The old Alpha likes me. I stay with him a lot. He and Feeder make eating easy and a dry spot from the rain. That's about it, really."

"Sounds like a pretty good life," Jake relaxed back against the fuselage, his tail waving absently.

"Yep," Lojack barked agreeably, standing up and sniffing the air, looking around. "I'd better go, somebody's coming. Nice meeting you, Jake!"

"Was that Lojack?" Henry asked with a look towards where the gray form had vanished towards.

"Yes. Quite the interesting dog," Jake nodded.

"That he is," Henry nodded. "Hang on... you were just talking with him, weren't you?"

"Yes," he admitted. "It might not work between a dog and human," he added quickly.

"Even so, that's... way beyond what I'd ever thought the translator would do," Henry admitted. "It implies that the principles it works on aren't just applicable with species we'd normally think of as having a language.... This could be _really_ big if it _does_ work with regular dogs, even if it doesn't."

"Lojack does understand English, even if he can't speak it," Jake pointed out. "But I can see where it could really unsettle the status quo on a world that isn't used to the idea of multiple intelligent races."

"And where there's already a lot of argument about what it takes to be considered a person," Henry nodded. "Might be interesting to see about taking it down to SeaWorld some time... or just the San Diego Zoo," he mused.

Jake looked at him seriously for a long time, then shook his head. "Until you're ready to face the consequences of knowing, really _knowing_ , that almost every warmed-blooded vertebrate larger than a songbird, and a few dozen others things, can understand you and carry on a conversation, you won't want to do that," he warned him softly. "It can really screw up your day, and diet, for a while."

"That sounds like experience talking," Henry pointed out curiously.

"Not this kind," he tapped the translator on his shoulder, "but we've both had some adventures that included being turned into other things, or stuck in their bodies with them," he sighed with a shake of his head. "There is very little that can mess up your appreciation of a good burger like having been a cow and the conversations with the herd that followed. If it hadn't ended up pretty low on the list of serious culinary traumas, Chance being mutated into a frog-kat and keeping a taste for flies for several weeks being one of them, I doubt either of us would be eating red meat or fowl to this day."

"I ... could see that being a problem," Henry agreed. "So, how's it going with the jet?" He asked, changing the subject before he thought too much more about the implications of what he'd created.

"It'll never be _good_ , but I can make it safe enough for a combat pilot to fly and land," Jake happily changed subjects. "It'll never be more than a brute force answer to VTOL. Quality and elegance require fundamental changes in design that just aren't possible within a redesign."

"Well, I'm sure Stark'll be willing to listen to proposals starting from scratch too," Henry mused, the two of them quickly getting engrossed in what Jake was going to suggest for the current project, before moving on to the larger scale ones.

* * *

 

Chance had to admit Eureka was a very, very strange place. He'd taken one of the Cyclotrons, and the high-tech bike was parked outside of a small shop that looked like it came out of a suburban commercial district back home. The man behind the counter probably owned the place, and it was a quiet, peaceful atmosphere.

Which was all well and good, really, except that while Chance looked for street clothes for him and Jake to wear while they were here, he was also spotting outfits that would have worked nicely for clubbing with a few minor adjustments for his tail, and a collection of clothes that he guessed were considered good fashion, at least if the blonde girl perusing the racks was as up on the local trends as she seemed to be.

So while he picked out some jeans and t-shirts for himself and a few things for Jake, keeping in mind that his partner had a serious preference for collared shirts and slacks, the girl was checking him out. When he got to the clubbing clothes and picked up a black leather jacket for himself, then paused to seriously consider a pair of leather pants that he'd be ready to kill to see Jake wear, especially with just a leather jacket to go with it, she moved in.

"You're new in town," she said by way of introduction.

"Yeah," he said, turning to look at her with a bit of a grin. "Got in yesterday ... probably stick out like a sore thumb, huh?" He was grateful for the holo-belt, at least at the moment. It was a lot easier to talk to people when they weren't staring at you and trying to figure out what was up with the fur.

"Well, it's a pretty small place," she grinned at him. "I'm Zoe," she stuck her hand out to him.

"Especially compared to where I'm from," he chuckled, hesitating for a moment before shaking her hand, trusting to his riding gloves to keep her from noticing his fur. "I'm Chance."

"A nickname you earned, or did your folks actually name you that?" she asked with an open curiosity and obliviousness to what could offend.

"Earned it," he grinned. "Made it legal later, but when your folks give you the nickname it's close enough."

"True," she snickered. "My dad never calls me anything cool like that. So what are you here for?"

"My partner's working on some aircraft project," Chance said easily. It was true enough, after all. "Might stick around afterwards or not, haven't made up our minds yet. You?" He asked her, deciding to pick up the pants and matching jacket for Jake and figure out how much begging would be involved in getting him into them later. "You don't look like the sort of girl who's working for Global," he chuckled.

"Nah, my dad works here," she shrugged. "They haven't kicked me out yet."

"Not for lack of trying, I'm guessing?" He chuckled.

"There is only so much trouble you can get into in this town," she admitted. "You have a motorcycle?" she motioned to the distinctive speed-machine parked outside.

"Yep," he chuckled. "Know anywhere good to take it for a ride?" He asked her with a grin, heading over to the counter to pay for the clothes he'd picked out. Or more accurately, give the card over he had for such things to charge to Global Dynamics. Not that he was abusing it, even if the leathers weren't strictly needed.

"Plenty of places," Zoe grinned back. "Want to go for a ride?"

"As long as you don't mind letting me drive," he grinned. "C'mon, I brought a spare helmet."

"Expecting to pick up a date?" she winked at him and followed the burly man outside.

"Expecting, not really," he chuckled, straddling his bike and tossing Zoe the spare helmet. "Ready for, always," he winked, pulling his on.

She started to put it on, then paused as she realized there were two large cut-outs towards the top.

"Need some help?" Chance offered her, before realizing what she'd probably noticed. Well... with a little luck, she'd just pull it on and not bother.

His tail would be harder to explain, though she _might_ not notice that either. He tucked it under his leg. It wasn't all that comfortable, but it might save some screaming.

"No, just never seen one like this," she told him and slipped the slightly oversized helmet on without another thought.

"Well, climb on and let's go," he said, revving up the Cyclotron and shifting a bit so he wouldn't be riding _right_ on his tail. "You'll have to tell me which way," he chuckled.

"Just take the main road out of town to start with," she grinned and wrapped her arms around his waist. "You'll hit open road fast."

"Sounds good to me," he rumbled, checking his purr before it got started, pulling out and taking off for the edge of town, quickly pushing the edges of the speed limit. The further into open farmland and forest they got on the winding roads, the faster he went. It felt _damn_ good to be riding just for the joy of it with someone holding onto him tightly and not afraid of his driving at all.

It was, perhaps, testament to how unfamiliar Chance was with the local roads and traffic laws that he was actually surprised when he saw the lights flashing behind them and heard a police siren squawk.

"Huh," he muttered to himself. "Only goin' about 80."

"That's only forty over the limit," Zoe yelled over the wind, then squealed in surprise when he really gunned the engine and they took off fast enough she could barely track the road.

Perhaps the scariest part was that her driver seemed to have no problems handling the corners and curves of the road ... but she quickly decided that the fact that he didn't actually seem to realize he was being suicidal was scarier.

"Are you crazy?" She shouted, practically screaming through her helmet so he could hear her. "How fa-" She looked over his shoulder, and realized she couldn't even come close to reading his speedometer... and that it wasn't _nearly_ maxed out yet. This thing must have been built by a Eureka techie speed freak.

It seemed to snap Chance out of it though, and he quickly decelerated and pulled off to the side of the road. Slammed his hand against the handlebars, he began swearing both loudly and creatively.

"Holy fuck," Zoe gasped as she tried to control her shaking. "You probably didn't lose him," she said fairly quietly when the cursing finally settled down a bit.

"I wasn't _trying_ to lose him," Chance muttered. "Well ... not on purpose, anyway. You okay?" 

She quickly realized that he was shaking too, though not as much as she was. Something thumped against her leg, but she wasn't really paying attention to that at the moment.

"Yeah, just ... what happened?" she looked at him, honestly concerned as the sirens came at them from both directions.

"Old habits die hard," he said, sighing as he pulled off his helmet. "It's a long story, and probably not one you're gonna want to hear just now." He put down the kickstand and climbed off the bike, despite the very insistent part of his brain that was telling him to have Zoe get off, get back on, and take off as fast as he could drive. A part that was getting louder and stronger with each passing second. "Probably good they don't have a chopper," he muttered, sure the sight of his alien passenger wouldn't be enough to keep him from bolting against that kind of threat.

His hands flexed, his claws sliding in and out of the tips of his fingers as he struggled first to stop shaking, then to not give into over a decade of survival instincts as the lights came into view, one set from each direction. Only the holo-belt was keeping him from giving himself away to Zoe entirely.

"You've either never been pulled over before, or you've been pulled over _way_ too many times," Zoe observed as she took in his open distress. "It's just a speeding ticket."

"First one, but not for lack trying," he answered her, his entire body tensed for combat; a flight or fight response gone a bit out of control as far as Zoe was concerned.

"You've gotten in big trouble before, haven't you?"

A small nod was all the answer she got as Chance focused on not reacting too aggressively towards the head of law enforcement and the woman who'd tried to blow him up just the day before.

"Zoe!" was the first sound that nearly exploded out of Sheriff Carter's mouth when he got out of his four by four SUV.

"Dad, we were just going on a drive around Eureka," she tried to calm him down, and realized as soon as she'd said it that it had just made things a _whole_ lot worse in Chance's brain.

"You pegged the radar gun," he snapped back, his eye catching on Lupo and the rather significant looking gun she had quietly pulled out.

"And not his speedometer," she countered. "Look, you'd have never have caught up if he hadn't stopped on his own."

"Kid's got a point, sheriff," Jo pointed out, her weapon lowered but easily available.

"Believe it or not, I actually _do_ have a perfectly reasonable explanation for all of this," Chance offered. "Just ... probably won't seem all that reasonable. And she didn't have anything to do with me taking off like that," he added, hoping to at least keep Zoe from getting into any more trouble. "Hell, she's the reason I _did_ stop," he admitted, ears folded back despite the fact none of the humans could see them.

"You're still getting a ticket, but try me. I've been here long enough you might be surprised what sounds reasonable," Sheriff Carter all but challenged him.

"Ah... does she know?" Chance asked, nodding slightly towards Zoe. The sheriff and Jo both knew who he really was, but he wanted to at least try not blowing his ID entirely just now.

"Know what?" Zoe looked between Chance and her father expectantly.

"Classified stuff, honey," Carter gave her the half-hearted explanation and stepped forward. "You'll have to sit in the car for a while."

"Great," she muttered. "Can I at least use the front seat, since I'm actually _not_ the one in trouble this time?"

"Sure," Carter consented and got her inside.

"Is he one of those aliens that landed yesterday?" She suddenly asked.

"Yeah, I am," Chance said, answering the question for her father, taking the question of how to answer that one diplomatically out of his hands. Besides, even if he'd said no, it wasn't like she was dense enough to actually believe it with what she'd seen and felt already. "It's mostly the rest of the details that we're trying to keep under wraps."

He was sure it'd be around town in no time ... but the fact that she knew about it meant it probably already was.

Carter nodded and got her in his SUV over her objections, the doors and windows locked before he turned to Chance. "Okay, now what was bolting all about?"

"Trained reflex," Chance admitted sheepishly. "Back home, the Cyclotron was even more obvious than it is here. Getting caught on it, especially in my flight gear, would've meant Jake and I getting found out as the SWAT Kats and probably tossed in a cell for the next fifty years or so. So even if it wasn't a big deal, we'd _both_ take off, try to lose 'em in the badlands before heading back to the Yard. For what it's worth, I didn't know Zoe was your daughter, and I could've handled the roads safely going at least another fifty faster."

"And probably have," Jo added drolly. "Just how fast can that bike go?"

"It pegs at 300, and I've gone faster. Though the bike didn't look too great when that run was over with," he admitted.

"And just how fast is three hundred here?" Carter asked, really hoping he'd never have to actually see that.

"How fast was I going when you first clocked me?"

"Just over ninety."

"Probably about three fifty then, whatever the local unit is. Was around eighty when you flashed the sirens. Also means I probably just about ... ouch," he winced. "Just about quadrupled the limit when I gunned it, huh?"

"That looked about right," Carter nodded. "And I can see why it wouldn't look that good after a run at those speeds. You know, by all rights, we should probably be hauling you in for that little stunt."

"I didn't mean to speed," Chance put on his very best 'please don't be that pissed at me' expression, even if half of it was lost thanks to the holo-belt, and did his damnedest not to panic again even as his mind was screaming at him that he was _not_ going back to a jail cell ever again.

"No license either," Jo pointed out, earning her a dirty look.

"I have a license, it's just as local as the bike is," Chance objected.

"Lucky for you," Carter continued as he began digging around his SUV for his ticket book, "that I'm in the mood to be the one saying we shouldn't arrest somebody today instead of Stark. Just keep it under the limit from now on, okay?"

"Yes, sir," Chance nodded quickly, and he honestly meant it.

"I'll make sure you do on the way back into town," Jo said, pulling her own ticket book and getting one written out by the time Carter managed to find his. "You'll have to visit the sheriff's office anyway. You are required to have an ID while in Eureka, and get a license plate on that thing."

"Yes, ma'am," he nodded to her, politely subdued and cooperative.

"So can I come out now?" Zoe demanded from the front seat while her father had a door open.

"Only if you plan on getting back in before we head back to town," he said seriously.

"Come on, he's a good driver," she objected and took the opening to escape the confines of the vehicle.

"A good driver who just admitted that he doesn't always control his reactions," Sheriff Carter said as patiently as he could. "You'll ride back with me, probably have time to talk with him at the station."

"I would _not_ put a passenger in danger," Chance snarled with more fire than anyone expected from him. "SWAT Kats don't endanger civilians," he added as he checked his temper, though he was still a bit huffy. "I'm not saying she should ride back with me, but I am not a dangerous driver when I have a passenger."

"You're still riding back with me," Carter added before Zoe could say anything.

"Just a dangerously fast one," Jo said as she put her rifle away. "You might be able to handle the speed, but what about the rest of traffic?"

"That's part of being able to handle the speed," Chance countered.

"The point is that it's not safe because you can't compensate for other drivers," Jo tried again.

"Okay, everybody in the correct vehicle and let's get back to the station," Carter stalled any further rounds between their visitor and his deputy. "Jo, stop trying to piss him off or I won't hold him responsible. He's agreed to obey the speed limit. That's all that matters."

"You really think he can take me?" Jo raised an eyebrow in open challenge.

"Yes," Chance regarded her evenly, though he didn't take her at all lightly.

"I'm saying if he tries he won't be in trouble if you don't stop trying to get a rise from him," Carter told her firmly.

"Yes, sir," she rolled her eyes a bit before looking directly at Chance. "No one can take me."

"Wanna bet?" he grinned at her, the challenge now turned relatively friendly.

"At least wait until we've gotten _this_ taken care of?" Carter asked with a groan.

"Yeah, it's easier to sell tickets back in town anyways," Zoe grinned.

"You better split the proceeds with me, girl," Chance winked at her.

"Okay, that's it, everybody into their vehicles, and I mean it this time," Carter groaned. "No arranging potentially illegal street fights with me around."

"Yessir," Chance chuckled, pulling his helmet back on. "Sheriff, are there any places where I can legally let loose on the throttle?" he asked as he climbing onto the Cyclotron and the Sheriff hustled his daughter back into the SUV and Jo returned to hers with a chuckle. "Back home, there were no speed limits once you left city limits. There wasn't any law, really. I do like to go fast."

"I'll show you on the map at the station," Carter promised, more than willing to help him out when he was making an effort to be a law-abiding citizen.

"Thanks," Chance nodded and got on his Cyclotron to head back into town, Carter's vehicle in front of him, Jo's behind him. It was very much an exercise in self-control, but he made it and let out a breath of relief to pull up in front of the small-town sheriff's office.

He just had to keep reminding himself that he wasn't in any serious legal trouble around here. Back home was one thing, here, they'd left it all behind.

It was nice, in a way, but he was _still_ kicking himself for forgetting it in the first place.

Still, it also proved that these two weren't anything like Feral. They were willing to cut him a reasonable amount of slack and only hand out a reasonable punishment.

It was a setup he could really get to like, especially once he knew where he could really _ride_.

"Okay, Jo," Carter looked at his deputy. "You handle his licensing and whatever forms that requires, I'll work on his vehicle, ticket and Zoe."

"I don't need working on, Dad," Zoe protested. "Remember? I actually didn't do anything this time!" She said, sounding disturbingly enthusiastic about that fact to Chance. He had a feeling she was just as big a handful as he'd ever been.

And wondered just how old she was ... he had a definite feeling he'd overestimated it.

"Zoe ... how old are you?" he asked uneasily. It would be better to know that than to get something seriously wrong.

"Fifteen," her father answered for her. 

"Almost sixteen," she interrupted.

"Legal age to drive is sixteen," Carter continued. "Drinking and smoking is twenty-one."

"And sex is eighteen," Jo added rather pointedly to both of them without looking up from her computer and paperwork.

"Right," Chance nodded seriously. He was actually finding himself grateful he'd been pulled over. Not that he thought anything would have happened, but he didn't like to think of the scene if it had. "So, what's involved in getting everything set up legal?" He asked, changing the topic.

"You said you had a foreign driver's license," Jo looked up at Chance. "On you?"

He nodded and pulled out his wallet to hand it over without a word.

"You're going to have to translate that for me," she told him even as she put it under the copy machine for a high-resolution scan-copy of both sides of it.

"Yes, ma'am," he nodded and sat down to work through it. It was kind of odd. They could both understand what the other said, but they couldn't read what the other could. Henry said he'd have a display that could translate written material for him in a couple days, but Jake got the first one and it took a lot more work than the verbal kind, or something like that.

* * *

"So you'd like to see the test track," Carter began as they wrapped up paperwork almost two hours later. "Anything else?"

"Is there a gym, obstacle course, video arcade ... and I heard something about a real night club," he looked at the two officers hopefully even as Jo handed him a new driver's license that she said was good for all kinds of vehicles, from motorcycles to cars to tanks to planes to things only Jake could identify. Well, it would be good for them after he'd passed the rest of the tests. Right now it was only for aircraft and motorcycles.

"Yes to all of it," Jo nodded and picked up her jacket. "There's a firing range, a live-ammo obstacle course ... I'll even show you where you'll be living while you're here."

"Thanks," Chance looked a bit startled, but decidedly grateful.

"It's ready already?" Carter raised an eyebrow.

"Important people get housing quick," she smiled slightly at him.

"Okay, are you trying to tell me something?" The Sheriff asked, frowning a bit.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Sir," Jo said easily, though there was a teasing twinkle in her eyes.

"Oh, what'll be involved in getting the ticket taken care of?" Chance asked. "Not gonna fight it, so...."

"It'll be docked from your pay, or Jake's if you end up not working for Global," Jo told him easily as they walked outside.

"That'll work," Chance nodded slightly. "So, what's first?" He asked, heading over towards his bike.

"If you want a tour, you'll have to ride in the SUV," she pointed out.

"Let me lock down the Cyclotron then," Chance said, not particularly liking the idea of leaving it to sit until then, but knowing that the odds were thoroughly against anybody getting through the lockdown. He set it to set off a stun pulse if anybody cracked the armor, then let the armor-plated sheath extend to cover it, making it look like a vaguely motorcycle-shaped bomb before heading back over towards the SUV.

"You guys take your vehicle security seriously," Jo commended with a distinct note of approval before getting in the driver's seat of her four-wheel drive SUV.

"You usually do, when the lightly armed ones could take out a light tank with the wrong button," Chance pointed out as he joined her and tried with little success to relax with someone else driving.

"Want a tour first, or hit the target range and obstacle courses?" she asked.

"Tour, I think," he said after a moment to think about it. He'd need to relax a bit before he could put in a decent showing on either course. As it stood, the hour or so given to the interesting spots of Eureka didn't help a lot, but the worst of the jitters were over by the time Jo pulled into target range parking lot.

He knew almost instantly that this was going to be _different_. Well, different from what he'd expected and much more like what he was actually used to. There weren't the lines of targets that his Enforcer training had gotten him used to when someone said 'target range'. Instead there were buildings and cordoned off areas for any kind of practice you cared to have.

There were also two other large vehicles in the parking lot, troop transports he recognized as the local special forces from his arrival.

"Somebody already here?" He asked curiously. "Or are those always around here?"

"Oh, there are usually a couple of them around," she nodded. "They're nothing special, just have better weapons than mere sheriffs."

"Jerks about it?" Chance asked with a half-grin. "Or they actually have the sense to know it's more important what you can do with what you have?"

"Haven't met one yet that didn't need to be taken down a few notches," she returned his grin, warming up to him a bit more.

"Feel like showing them up a few times to warm up?" Chance suggested with a wide, mischievous grin. "Two of us against three or four of them, urban combat sim?" He winked. "Or this place not set up for something like that?"

"It'll set up for anything," she grinned back and pulled out a small comm, clicking a button several times before speaking. "Hey GD, you up, you up for getting your asses handed to you? Over."

"Lupo, you know you are always on," a deep male voice came back. "Four of us here, over."

"Two here, Jackson. Urban combat? Over."

"Meet you outside station 3, over."

"Standard bet?" She asked. "Over."

"Deal, and over," he came back with an easy, confident laugh.

"He has no idea what he's in for," she grinned at Chance.

"Wait till he goes against Jake and me," he grinned back. "Let's go scare them. By the way, what's the standard bet?"

"An engraved bullet with your name and the date on it to go with a recording of the hunt," she chuckled. "You hand it over to who takes you down. I'll show you my collection later."

"Still using bullets, huh? So, what are the rules for allowed weapons and ammo?" Chance asked, fairly sure that he wouldn't be using his Glovatrix.

"No serious injuries after the safeguards," she grinned and got out of the SUV. "Which means your gear is allowed, unless they ask for it to be excluded."

"Must be some pretty good safeguards," Chance chuckled, taking his Glovatrix from his belt and pulling it on. "This thing isn't really designed with walking away from a hit in mind."

"Any of them radiation-based?" she asked as she pulled out her riffle from the truck of the SUV. "It's about the only form of energy that the body armor doesn't work against.

"Nope; a few electrical, flamethrower, laser, nets, and the usual mini-missiles and blades," Chance said, shaking his head, almost more interested in the armor now than in the match.

"Then lets get suited up and go wipe them out," Jo grinned and headed for one of the buildings. "We can see what you can do."

"Sounds good to me," Chance chuckled, following her in. "These are the same guys who were there when we landed?"

"Yes," she nodded and opened the door to a small locker room. "They know what you are."

"Good," he nodded, turning off his holo-belt. "Don't want anybody stepping on my tail because they can't see it," he chuckled.

"These guys are more likely to step on it if they can see it," she laughed and stripped of her sheriff's jacket before tapping in a security code to the locker with a half-dozen octagonal objects with cross-straps attached to them. She handed one to Chance and slipped one on herself, the device in front and the straps across her shoulders and back to hold it near the center of her chest.

"They do that, they're gonna find out what the floor feels like fast," Chance grinned back, putting the device on the way she had, not needing to pull off any of his close-fitting flight suit before it would fit. Even on his frame, it had been designed to go over field gear.

"I don't doubt it," Jo chuckled and turned hers on, then his. "You want to go by Chance or T-Bone in here?"

"T-Bone," he said easily.

"Come on, let's meet the targets," Jo nodded

"With pleasure," T-Bone fairly purred as he followed her into an empty room with four guys in black cammies and the same device the two of them wore. He recognized assault riffles and pistols on each of them, though he didn't recognize the make or model yet, and the typical assortment of blades, plus a few grenades. He still wasn't entirely sure what was up with the 'armor,' but accepted that it would do the job required. At the very least, it was an even battlefield with them all protected by the same device.

"Guys, this is Chance Furlong, goes by T-Bone," Jo began. "T-Bone, this is Randy 'Shadow' Jackson, Keller 'The Brick' Smith, Eddy 'Chillzone' Winters and Larry 'Snapshot' Fisher," she introduced each of the guys in turn.

"Glad to meet you," T-Bone said with a polite nod, sizing the four of them up. He didn't doubt that they were good, but he was just as confident that they could take them. 

If it had been Jake beside him instead of Jo, there wouldn't have been any question at all.

"Not sure if you noticed, Lupo, but your partner here seems a little lightly armed," Chillzone chuckled.

"Funny, I was thinking the same," T-Bone shot back, not taking offense. "Don't worry, I've got enough for you."

"We'll see about that," Shadow grinned at him. "Everybody to their corners," the Global team's leader ordered.

"This way," Lupo told T-Bone quietly and took him to one edge of the large room, the commando team on the far side, then the entire place shimmered and turned into a cityscape. Not MegaKat City, but definitely a big city.

"This thing simulate civilians too?" T-Bone asked quietly, flexing his hand and setting his Glovatrix to the stun net.

"Them, animals vehicles ... everything," she whispered and crouched down, her rifle at the ready as she carefully moved forward.

T-Bone nodded, making a mental note to identify his targets before shooting as he and Jo moved from building to building. A sound just at the edge of his hearing made him freeze, then dive for cover with a tackle that took Lupo with him as a sniper's bullet ricocheted off the cement of the building he'd pushed them into.

"How?" Lupo gasped as she caught her breath from the sudden tackle and realized what had just happened.

T-Bone shook his head and focused on listening to what was going on around them as he flexed his hand, shifting to mini-missiles as he heard some of the others approaching to try and pin them down in the building. He motioned to the door and one of the windows, where he heard them approaching.

He knew she was cursing herself for not checking that they both knew the same hand signals, just like he was, but she nodded and motioned to herself and the window, then him and the door.

He nodded and they both moved to their locations, ready to move when an opening presented itself.

While he waited, he shifted it again; he didn't particularly want to set a mini-missile off in his face, armor or no armor, when he fired on whoever might come through the door.

He snapped his arm up and fired as soon as a body came through the door, but he didn't anticipate the slam and roll entrance and The Brick managed to get to his feet and fire a shot off at Lupo. With a low curse T-Bone fired again, this time with an electro-net that dropped him with a twitching cry of pain and surprise.

He twisted to the side as Chillzone came through the window, firing at the tabby. An electric blue forcefield crackled as the first 9mm round grazed his shoulder, but Lupo kept him from getting off another shot by hauling him through the window and firing what would have been a lethal shot into the field above Chillzone's chest.

In accordance with the rules, both men lay still where they fell, though they shifted a bit to relax and watch the rest of the match play out.

Lupo looked at T-Bone, asking silently if he knew where Shadow or Snapshot were.

He had to shake his head. He cut the power to the stun net on The Brick, focusing on what he could hear and smell. Gunpowder, an unfamiliar scent that he filtered out as he could ... his own scent, the smell of Lupo's perfume and distinctive personal scent... not enough unfamiliar smells for the others to be close.

He was sure, however, that whoever had the sniper rifle would be watching the door. He could hear the breech being worked from a distance, and knew going through the door would be a good way to get one of them taken out.

"Any other exits?" He asked quietly, knowing that he wouldn't have been able to signal that.

She nodded and motioned towards the back, and then with two fingers to the other room. She flicked her fingers upwards and around, towards herself a bit, and moved cautiously towards the other room, intent on not giving Snapshot another opening.

T-Bone nodded and waited nervously as she moved through, carefully moving himself towards the back wall of the room, watching the door and window both nervously, shifting from the net launcher to the flying blades now that he was sure the shields would be able to handle them. There was something to be said for facing live, intelligent opponents, and very privately he had to admit that he really hadn't had much experience with it.

Lupo caught his eye as they got into the adjacent room and he saw what she'd meant; there were two windows here. One faced the alley and was likely shielded from the sniper, the other faced the back and almost certainly was, but most likely had the fourth member of the opposing team ready to nail them.

Which meant that, really, the alley probably _was_ covered by the sniper.

He pulled his Glovatrix off carefully, opening the loading cover and pulled out a handful of the mini-missiles inside before snapping it shut and putting it on again. He pointed towards the missiles, then the back window, and briefly pantomimed tossing the impact-triggered explosives through it. It probably wouldn't take down the fourth member of the team, but it would probably buy them a few moments to get out and do the job themselves.

Lupo nodded and shifted towards the back window, ready to make use of the distraction.

He flung the first one, listening as the window shattered with the explosion and threw two more to make a racket in the ally while Lupo opened the window and rolled out, moving towards the next alley as soon as her feet hit the ground.

Bullets whizzed past her head as Shadow moved out from behind the dumpster he'd taken cover behind, firing at her rapidly. She heard something spin through the air briefly, the sound of metal hitting metal, then the shooting stopped, and she made it to the next alley safely, T-Bone not far behind her.

"He down?" she asked well below a whisper, counting on his extraordinary hearing to catch the words.

T-Bone nodded, then motioned in the general direction the sniper should have been. The question was obvious; how were they supposed to handle the last one?

"He's on a rooftop. We have to get up there. Work around back, a large loop," she spoke low enough she couldn't hear herself, but was sure he could.

He nodded, motioning towards her and pointing one way, then towards himself and the other direction; to split up in case he came down and headed the other way.

She nodded and started to move. Despite the situation, he couldn't help but appreciate an experience-trained female warrior on the move. It was very much like watching Felina had been. Damn, he still missed her.

He shook his head clear and began to move himself, making a wide circle so the sniper on the roof wouldn't get to see him coming.

He just wished they knew for sure what roof he was on. Logic said he'd probably be on the tallest of them, but there were other options.

It would have helped if he'd been more familiar with the limitations of the simulator, but so far everything was very, very realistic.

He spotted Lupo turn the corner of the building they'd just circled to get behind and nodded to her. She made a quick hand single that she was going first, and despite his natural inclination to be there himself he nodded again.

He shifted his Glovatrix to its laser setting, then moved back to cover Lupo as she went up, only moving himself when she was about to turn a corner and go out of sight. On the third flight of stairs she suddenly froze and scrambled back towards him while making as little noise as she could manage on the metal stairs.

You didn't have to be a genius to figure out what she'd probably seen. T-Bone hurried down himself, quick and quiet, shifting to cover her again, in case she was spotted by Snapshot on his approach.

Lupo tapped his shoulder and pointed to one side of the ground-floor stairwell space, a good place for an ambush shot, T-Bone couldn't help but notice. At least if you weren't spotted first. It did have a point of visibility from above, but a good risk.

He decided to take it, moving into position as she moved down to the other side, bringing her rifle around to be ready to pick him off as soon as he reached the bottom if T-Bone couldn't manage the shot further up the stairwell.

To T-Bone's ears, each step of hard boots on metal was an incredible echo that heralded his target's approach. His heart and breathing began to settle as very old and rarely used training kicked in. He focused on the sound of steps, drawing closer one by one, and readied a spike in his Glovatrix to fire when he had the shot.

One step, then another, and the tip of one boot was visible. Another step, and the leg started to come into view. Not enough to be sure of the shot yet, but just a few moments more. He was moving cautiously, but not cautiously enough; he hadn't spotted the kat crotched near the foot of the stairs until there was a sudden burst of movement as T-Bone lunged to his feet and fired three metal darts in rapid succession.

He was moving cautiously, but not cautiously enough; he hadn't spotted the kat crouched near the foot of the stairs until there was a sudden burst of movement as T-Bone lunged to his feet and fired three metal darts in rapid succession.

"Gotcha," T-Bone grinned up at the stunned sniper. The darts fell to the ground, as though they'd hit a wall and suddenly lost all forward momentum right before Snapshot's chest, and they all knew he'd gotten the drop on the last of the agents. "And that makes four."

"And another in the win column for me," Lupo smirked at him. "Sim over," she called out and as quickly as it had appeared the cityscape disappeared, leaving three of them standing in the room and three more laying down waiting for it to be over.

"Yeah, we'll settle up later," Shadow said, getting up and taking off his field generator. "What the Hell sort of weapon is that?" He asked T-Bone, nodding towards the tabby's heavy glove.

"Glovatrix; basic weapon my partner and I use back home," he explained, pulling it off. "Lot harder to lose in a fight than a blaster."

"No kidding," Shadow agreed. "Just how many weapons are in that thing?"

"At the moment, eight," he answered easily. "Laser, blades, darts, sticky nets, electro-nets, short range, high amperage electric pulse, flamethrower, the explosives I tossed out at you, plus a shield, light, vehicle control system, grappling hook, sensors and a comm-link. Assuming Jake hasn't tweaked with anything since I checked last."

"And how do you _fit_ all that in one glove?" Chillzone asked dubiously.

"That's something I try not to ask Jake about," T-Bone chuckled. "It gets... confusing."

"Same way he manages to have room for thirty missiles, two combat motorcycles, a hovercraft, a tank and a four-seat drilling machine in the jet they came in with," Jo chuckled. "Built-in tesseract."

"And still have room left over for gods only know what," Chance added.

"Holy...." The Brick murmured. "You're serious."

"Well, okay, we usually only take one of the big vehicles along at a time, but yeah. Jake's good with that sort of thing," T-Bone said with a bit of a shrug as he pulled off his helmet. "Not something that was very common back home either."

"So is Jake working for GD now," Shadow asked a bit hopefully.

"Don't get your hopes up too much," T-Bone chuckled. "These aren't easy to build."

"So, now that we've had a little fun, what would you like to hit next?" Jo asked Chance.

"How about that obstacle course to wind down a bit?" He suggested, pulling off the field generator and starting back for the locker room.

"Works for me," Jo grinned up at him and made quick work of putting the armor back where it belonged before heading to her patrol SUV. "So what do you use instead of bullets?" She asked conversationally as they got in.

"Generally, or Jake and I?" Chance asked, climbing in and buckling up.

"Whatever you meant when you commented on us still using them," she explained and started the engine.

"Around our world, at least around MKC, the Enforcers usually use blasters," he explained. "So do most of the crooks, honestly... some guards and the MKPD stick with regular bullets, but for the most part they're pretty much obsolete."

She blinked a couple time with an expression that let him know almost instantly that she'd expected a completely different topic.

"Right, gotcha," Jo nodded and pulled out, a smug smile on her face at the unhappy looks the commandos had on.

"Sorry," he chuckled. "I wasn't talking about the bets back there. Jake and I usually figured out who'd be doing what chores with things like that, but otherwise most contests like that were about who'd be buying who the first round."

"They do," she nodded towards the commandos. "But I don't socialize with those guys, so it's hard to collect a first round."

"Yeah, I'll bet," he chuckled. "Mind if I ask a question?" He asked as they pulled out. "Might be a personal one."

"You can ask, I just might not give you an answer," she shrugged, the kind of move he was fairly sure meant she wouldn't take offence, she just might tell him to shut up.

"Why are you a deputy here?" He asked her. "I mean... I can see you've got the training and skill that usually ends up in special ops, so...."

"I am special ops," she told him. "Army Rangers. Those guys work for Global Dynamics, they're civilian; I work for the US government."

"Seems a strange job for somebody in ops, but fair enough," Chance said, accepting it. "You like it here?"

"Most days," she nodded as they drove down another placid country road. "The town has its moments, but overall it's good here."

"How do you handle being around all the scientists all the time?"

"Some of them are fun," she chuckled. "Most of the time I just remind them who's in charge and they settle down."

"Whether they think you're in charge or not, huh?" Chance chuckled. "Single?" He asked her curiously as they headed out into the countryside, leaning against the door of the police SUV and more comfortable than he ever expected to be in one.

"Depends on who's asking," she gave him a warning look.

"Just curious," Chance said easily, backing off and looking for another subject quickly. "So, Zoe usually keeps the Sheriff pretty busy, from the sound of it?"

"Yeah," she snorted a bit. "But so does the town. You might be our first real aliens, but it's still been a quiet week overall. No escapees, Global hasn't nearly been blown up, no new clones and no world demolition about to happen."

"Sounds familiar," Chance chuckled. "Well, with a little luck we'll be the biggest excitement of the week he has to handle."

"He's hoping for it," she grinned at him devilishly and got out of the SUV. "I hope you're ready for a workout. These aren't your standard obstacle courses."

"The ones we build aren't either," he grinned back and followed her the short distance to where he could see some fairly standard-looking components. A breeze blew by his nose, a scent that wasn't right on it.

Angry, human-ish, maybe... not quite, but close.

"Jo ... there's something here," he said quietly and began to shift back towards the vehicle and their weapons. _Why_ did he think it was a bright idea to leave his Glovatrix and helmet in there? "And it's not friendly," he added, popping his claws out a little nervously.

"What direction?" she asked in a hushed voice and made a much more direct movement for the vehicle.

He motioned with one hand towards some of the trees that carpeted the entire county, just in time for a huge, dark-furred humanoid to rush him.

"Go!" Chance shouted to Jo. He didn't dare risk turning his back on the creature, but he worked his way towards the SUV as fast as he could without taking that chance. He raised his hands, ready to defend himself if he had to before he could get to the Glovatrix and pull it on.

He realized she hadn't moved just an instant before he heard her gun go off with three distinct bangs.

The creature jerked back, staggered, but didn't go down until Jo fired a fourth time with a perfect shot between the eyes that blew the back of it's head out.

"Well, now they're all accounted for," she rotated her head a bit in a stretch and walked calmly to her vehicle to radio it in.

"What the _Hell_ was that thing?" Chance demanded, looking down at it and the spreading pool of blood distastefully. There was a reason he liked blasters better than bullets. Creeplings were one thing; the little monsters bled black, for one thing, and clever as they might have been sometimes they were more like smart animals than people. This... he had no idea what it was, but it looked vaguely like a human, albeit a much larger, hairier one.

"The last known subject of Taggart's Bigfoot experiment," she told him before clicking the radio on. "Sheriff Carter, this is Jo, over."

"Well, that's informative," Chance muttered to himself. He could see why they called it that, though.

"What's up, Jo?" he answered, then after a long pause said "over."

"The last of Taggart's Bigfoot subjects just attacked us. Bring a body bag, over."

"Is everybody, okay, over?"

"Yes, only the Bigfoot was injured, over," she answered patiently.

"On my way," Carter said and clicked off.

"I _hate_ it when he does that," Jo steamed after a long moment of silence, then looked up at Chance. "Taggart's a cryptozoologist that's obsessed with Bigfoot, a supposed human ancestor or first cousin, depending on who you talk to. When his efforts to create one were officially stopped, he used a retrovirus to go to human trials on himself and two others without permission. One was killed a few months ago, he was cured and this is the third. We've been hunting it since we found out about it."

"Taggart... that was the bald guy with the accent when we got here, wasn't it?" Chance asked, trying not to think about the body. "This thing used to be human?"

"Yes and yes," she nodded. "Key word there is 'used to be'."

"So... what happens now? To it, and him?"

"It goes into the deep freeze at Global for future study," she shrugged. "Whatever it used to be, now it's a scientific curiosity and the beginning of yet another leap of knowledge."

"And Taggart?" Chance asked quietly, not really sure he wanted to know, but determined to find out what kind of penalties this offence created.

"Slap on the wrist and six weeks in a genetic detox cage," she explained. "It wasn't a sanctioned project, but he got the two volunteers to sign all the right paperwork to say they were volunteering and sane at the time. Half of what goes on around here isn't sanctioned. All that means is that Global isn't directly financing it."

"If we stick around here? Remind me to talk to Jake about signing up for cremation," Chance said, glancing over at her before going around to the other side of the car, taking a few deep breaths.

Jo nodded and watched him calm himself down.

"You haven't seen many bodies like that, have you?" She finally asked.

"Nope," he admitted. "Most of 'em are cooked once we've made 'em, or crash victims, or get blown apart so well y'need a DNA check to tell what bit goes with who. That's not the problem though," he said, the tip of his tail lashing from one side to the other before he turned his holo-belt back on, only just realizing he'd left it off.

"What is then?" she asked, honestly a bit curious.

"I _was_ that thing once," he muttered. "Close enough, anyways. For kat's sake, it used to be a human, one of you guys, and it's just a test subject now?!?"

"He volunteered," she pointed out. "If he hadn't attacked us we still might have captured him alive and turned him back into a human," she shook her head and walked up to him to make him look her in the face. " _Volunteered_ , Chance. He was willing and knew the risks."

"He still used to be a person," Chance muttered quietly, with a shudder that went soul-deep. "Sorry. It's just a real sore spot for me... asshole named Dr. Viper flooded the city with a mutagen one day. Everybody who lived in the first three stories or so of the city either moved up fast, drowned, or got mutated. Took out most of the inner city; I can tell you now that the official death toll wasn't half what the real one was. At any rate, I was in the 'got mutated' category. Almost killed Jake before they managed to figure out an antidote."

"I know the feeling," she said very softly, a hint in her tone led him to believe she really did, even if she took something different from the experience than he had. "What happened to you was a crime. Assault. It's different," she paused and looked at him a bit. "Like the difference between a lover and a rapist."

"I know that up here," Chance pointed out, tapping his head lightly. "It's convincing the rest of me that's gonna take a while. So, what's your story, if you don't mind talking about it?"

"I can't," she shook her head, though there was little actual reaction to the request, unlike when he asked if she was single. "It's still classified beyond your clearance."

"Fair enough," he nodded. "Thanks, by the way. I owe you."

"Don't worry about it," she thumped his shoulder as the sound of many vehicles coming from both directions took their attention away from their conversation. "Just doing my job."

* * *

Jake did his best not to pace in the spacious living room of the home -- a real, actual stand-alone house -- they'd been given for their stay. It was plain and cream-colored, but freshly built, nicely furnished and with enough yard around it for all the vehicles and a promise of a building for them to be stored in by week's end.

None of that was what was at the front of Jake's mind though. When Jo had called him and told him that Chance had had a bad encounter, he'd all but panicked. He still only knew that his partner was physically fine, but was having issues about the frog-event, as she'd put it, and that she'd had to kill a test subject in front of him when it attacked them.

It cut down the list of things it could have been, but he was still worried about it when the SUV pulled up and Chance climbed out, the holo-belt on. It was hard to tell how he was doing, without his tail or ears as visual cues, but he looked more or less fine by now.

Not that it could always be taken at face value with the tabby, especially when what he was having a breakdown. He'd do anything to keep that from happening in public.

Jake stepped out of the front door with a welcoming smile as Jo drove away, leaving the two of them alone in their front yard.

"So, how'd it go today?" Chance asked with a smile, moving up to wrap Jake in a powerful hug.

"Pretty good," he smiled and hugged him back in the process of getting him inside where they could get the holo-belts turned off. "Spent a few hours with Henry and had an interesting chat with a dog smarter than most people. Yours?" he asked more softly. "You smell like it was exciting."

"Pretty good," he smiled and hugged him back in the process of getting him inside where they could get the holo-belts turned off. "Spent a few hours with Henry and had an interesting chat with a dog smarter than most people. Yours?" he asked more softly. "You smell like it was exciting."

"That's one way to put it," Chance admitted. "The clothes I picked up earlier were with the Cyclotron when you got it, right?"

"Yes," he nodded. "I put them in the bedroom," he reached up to kiss Chance softly. "Come on, they have a whirlpool bathtub."

"Are you _sure_ they didn't have you design this place?" Chance teased, kissing him back and following him on in, stripping the top of his flight suit off.

"It's a common request around here," Jake purred for real and began to undress as well. "We are going to be spoiled rotten in no time."

"Yeah, we probably will be," Chance admitted. "By the way, doubt it's going to come up, but watch out for a cute blonde girl around here, named Zoe. Younger than she looks, _and_ she's the Sheriff's daughter."

"Do I even want to know how you came by this information?" Jake snickered and finished stripping before turning the hot water on.

"She was at the same shop I was getting the clothes at," Chance chuckled, an appreciative eye on his partner's body. "We went out for a ride, I found out they've actually got speed limits in the countryside around here. Also found out that I'm gonna have to work on _not_ bolting from the cops if we stick around here."

"I'll modify the speedometers so they match miles per hour," Jake walked up to him and kissed him as the very large tub filled with steaming water. "And we both will," he murmured, his fingers working on opening Chance's pants with the ease of long practice. "The big fight wasn't over that, was it?"

"No," the tabby acknowledged, wrapping his arms around his lover and rubbing his back as his pants fell to the floor and he kicked them away. "First I helped Jo put a team of GD's special ops goons on their tails ... then, when we were headed out to take a look at their obstacle course, the last surviving critter from some genetic experiment attacked us. I didn't get hurt," he said quickly, heading off the usual reaction a statement like that would get from the smaller tom.

"Good," he nuzzled the tabby's broad chest, then licked one exposed nipple. "But I really should give you a thorough checking over just to make sure."

"Mmm ... thorough as you want," Chance purred, guiding Jake into the pool, groaning a bit as the hot water started to soak into muscles that were still sore from the tension of the day.


	3. Felines and Canines, Oh My

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The hunt for a strange wolf that visits every few months heats up again, and so does a few other things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written with Karl Wolfemann

Taggart looked up at the full moon from a clearing outside his bunker, watching the clouds drift across it.

"Tonight's the night," he said quietly to himself. "I can feel it...." He listened to the sounds of the night air, crickets... cicadas... the creatures of the night, calling out to those around them. It was a wholly natural sound. People like the Carters didn't know how to enjoy nature's serenade... just as well they lived in S.A.R.A.H., where they wouldn't be inconvenienced by the simple little things in life.

Taggart, on the other hand, enjoyed it. A half-grin spread across his face as he heard a distant howl. This was a sound he enjoyed even more than the normal ones.

The cry of the wolf meant that tonight, the hunt was on.

He grabbed his tranquilizer rifle from where he'd set it, and started tracking the sound.

"Tonight, we'll see which of us is the better hunter," he told himself with a grin.

The forest was dark, but his night vision goggles gave him sight at least as good as his quarry's. It likely had better hearing, but he had knowledge of the forest that came from much more experience than this wolf that only visited a couple nights every few months. It was smart though. It had eluded every trap he could come up with, even the poisoned bait left out to tranquilize it and the cameras designed to capture its image.

Tonight, he was at least going to see it. He'd found a deer earlier, fresh roadkill, and hauled it away from the road where it would be safe for his prey to eat. That was where he was going now; no tricks, no traps, just the food, and he'd be watching it from downwind.

A cool wind nipped at his nose, the first real hint of fall coming to the rich green woods of Eureka. He could smell many of the creatures around him. One in particular caught his attention. A light musk, canine, came on the breeze. There was a familiar edge on it too, one he couldn't identify.

Slowly, a shadow emerged from the darkness. Large, powerful ... the size of a large Grizzly but decidedly not ursine in build.

"What the devil?" He asked himself quietly, raising his tranquilizer rifle to his shoulder and settling in, hoping for a good shot. He could figure out what the Hell this thing was after it was down.

Its head shot up and looked directly at him, and it froze, its thickly furred body trembling.

Very slowly, he pulled the trigger on a perfect shot to the flank. It yelped and jumped, startled by the pain, but just as quickly twisted around to grab the barbed dart in its jaws and pulled it out without any regard for the damage.

Taggart watched, setting up for a second shot as it wavered on it's feet a bit before it turned on it's tail and ran, howling a half-panicked call for help.

The hunter followed, chambering the next dart, not sure if he'd get another shot but not willing to let his quarry go this time either, not now that he knew there was something strange going on. There was no way that animal was normal. No canine in the last twenty thousand years was that big.

The trail of blood soon disappeared, leaving him where he usually was, with few tracks and no other evidence.

"Blast," he muttered to himself, dropping to the ground and trying to see what he could pick up of the tracks he could see. Or if the wolf would try howling again ... either would give him an idea of where to go next.

It seemed to know that though; knew how close it had come to being captured. It had gone silent and into hiding. Even when dawn broke misty and cool Taggart hadn't given up, though he knew as well as his prey that it was over.

"One of these nights, my furry friend," he muttered to himself, shouldering his rifle and starting back towards his home, honestly glad to have the day to get some sleep. "One of these nights...."

* * *

Chance mumbled, his awareness foggy as always when he first started to wake up. Still the knowing touch that had roused him gave him little to complain about.

"Mmm ... not already at work today?" He asked Jake with a deep, throaty purr as he reached around to rub his mate's back.

"I wanted a little fun before burying my head in someone else's design nightmare," Jake nuzzled him and continued to fondle the tabby's filling sheath.

"I can live with that," Chance rumbled deeply, scritching his way down Jake's cinnamon-furred back to the hot spot just above his tail.

"Ohh, you're going to get me off before we start," Jake shivered in delight and shifted to leave his back and ass within Chance's reach while he put the tabby's groin in reach of his mouth.

"Turn around, and we can do each other the favor," Chance grinned down at him and eagerly nuzzled his mate's groin when it came into easy reach. He wrapped his arms around Jake's hips, stroking the spot above his tail and his tight, furless pucker. His rough tongue washed over the heavy, fragrant, furry pouch holding his mate's shaft.

The shiver of pleasure was exciting, but so was the hot wetness of Jake's mouth as one of his balls and the gentle tongue that worked it around that wet heat.

Chance groaned softly, his shaft sliding out as he shifted up, lavishing Jake's balls with attention, licking and suckling at them lightly, occasionally letting his teeth graze the downy-furred sacs.

"Ohhh, yeah," Jake shuddered, his hands tightening around Chance's hips before he shifted his attention to the full erection near his muzzle. He took his cock into his mouth and slowly licked the musky length, getting off on the scent and taste nearly as much as what Chance was doing to him.

The tabby moaned again, taking Jake's cock in his mouth as he started purring deeply, suckling the throbbing treat and teasing Jake's barbs with his tongue. He pressed a finger into Jake's ass, stretching him out a bit and teasing him all at once with what was coming next. He thrust up as he felt Jake's throat relax open to take him in and relished in the familiar feeling. As often as he still slept with females, every year he appreciated this, a long-term lover, all the more.

Jake took him into his throat, and Chance's purr quickened as he started bobbing his head up and down his mate's length, lavishing him with attention, trying to get him to come as quickly as he could. He slipped his finger in a bit deeper, finding Jake's prostate with practiced ease. It was a simple thing to get the lean tom off when he wasn't resisting.

With a shudder Jake tightened his body around the intrusion in his ass and thrust forward, his balls pulled close to his body as they readied to empty themselves.

Chance pulled back a bit, keeping his mate's shaft about half-way into his mouth, still teasing his barbs with his tongue as he groaned and pumped his own seed into Jake's throat. He knew his mate would hold back and drink his come down before letting himself go.

It was a quirk that always left Chance hungry for his mate's orgasm when they were together like this. He groaned, panting heavily through his nose as he finished, his warm breath puffing over Jake's balls while his tongue and mouth continued to work Jack's cock until it twitched and surrendered the first burst of gooey seed into Chance's mouth.

The tabby swallowed the thick, bittersweet juices easily, stopping purring only long enough to swallow. He let Jake's shaft drop from his mouth, reaching down and taking his arm, pulling him up carefully for a deep, hungry kiss that let each taste the mingling flavors of their seed.

"I'll never get tired of that," Jake melted against his mate's broad chest, purring deeply.

"Don't think I will either," Chance rumbled. "Mmm ... and you ever gonna get tired of this?" He asked with a grin, pulling the cinnamon-furred tom's arms up above his head and rolling on top of him, kissing him possessively.

"N-no," Jake gasped, arching against the powerful form on top of him in open desire, spreading his legs in invitation before he melted completely in trembling submission that brought his body to life in a way little else could.

"Mmm ... good," Chance purred deeply, spreading Jake's legs further and shifting to drive his cock up into the painfully willing tom beneath him with a groan of pure lust. He grinned and began to pound into his lover with the full knowledge that Jake relished this even more than he did.

* * *

Jo Lupo groaned and shuddered in aching, cramped pain as her alarm clock's incessant beeping dragged her to the waking world. Her entire body objected, and the foggy, violent nature of her dreams made her even less agreeable to getting up. Still she managed to get herself out of bed and forced her reluctant body to her bathroom.

She looked into the mirror with a groan, leaning against the back wall as she realized that her body was streaked with mud and leaves. She winced as her thigh pressed back against the wall and leaned forward quickly to look down where she spotted a streak of blood on her leg beneath a small cut that had already healed. Must have cut herself on something during the night.

She viciously slammed down on the part of her that instinctively began to question her current state when she had fallen asleep in her bed and woken up there. She was _really_ not in the mood for this. Especially with a new sheriff who had no idea what was going on, even after months here. She was tired of being the one who had to clue him in.

Just damn tired of it.

"So call in sick, Lupo," she muttered to herself. "He's done it, and damnit girl, you _are_ sick today."

She just wished it was that easy. But of course it wouldn't be. After all, she could still do her job. If something came up today that she needed to handle?

Like bodies in the woods, maybe....

She shook that line of thought out of her head. Third bigfoot was down, that problem was dealt with and there _wasn't_ anything else in the woods that would kill somebody. Nothing known to have escaped, at least, and those two felines were hardly killers, for all they were definitely capable of killing. Much like her, really.

She turned on the water and washed her face off quickly. She'd feel better after a long shower to wash all this away. Not that anything could wash all the thoughts from her mind the way it could wash the evidence of whatever had happened from her body, but long enough and she'd settled her rebellious thoughts.

Still sore in body and mind, she took a painkiller that could only be had in Eureka, and only if you asked the right people the right way, and got dressed.

"Ah, crap," she snarled as she glanced at the clock and realized she was already late for work. Carter would already be there. He'd never let her hear the end of this and she was in _no_ mood to deal with him or his mouth.

Okay. Breakfast after she got there. Coffee after she got there. She wouldn't be _too_ late if she just hurried....

She pulled her jacket on, holstered her gun and headed out into the living room... and groaned again as she saw the broken picture window, glass littering the floor.

"Why doesn't somebody just shoot me already!" She muttered in exasperation. No time to deal with this now... but she couldn't just take the chance of leaving the house completely unprotected. Nothing seemed to be missing... she must have forgotten to set the alarm the night before, and some animal had tried to get into the room. The mud on the carpet supported it, along with a few tufts of dark fur she saw laying around.

Yeah. That must have been it. Perfectly logical explanation for everything.

She quickly moved a couple of the motion detectors for her alarm into place, so it would go off if anybody tried to come in through the window. She'd call in to get it fixed while she was on her way into town and everything would be perfectly normal by the time she got home.

She was still stewing, her ill mood only worse despite the pill and her own efforts. It was almost enough to make her miss that Carter opened his mouth to say something, then shut it was an almost audible snap. All she could manage was to be grateful for small miracles and pray that they held until her temper broke and she felt vaguely normal again.

"I'll get it," Carter said and snapped up the phone before she'd even fully realized it had rung. He made a few brief affirmative sounds, then looked up at her. "Fargo again. I'll go put out the fire."

"Right, Sheriff," she nodded, for once grateful he was leaving her out of it.

She spent the next hour or so working on reports rather pleasantly, actually. It was a touch of normalcy her day needed _very_ badly. She looked up briefly when she heard the door open, just long enough to register that it was the Sheriff before getting back to work. She looked up again when she heard a quiet tap on her desk, looking up to spot a small bottle in a bag, and Carter quickly making his way across the room to his desk.

She looked at him, her brows quirked, and glanced in to identify the plastic bottle of Midol inside and tried to keep her jaw shut.

Damn man. Utterly clueless.

But he'd tried. Even if he didn't have a clue but he was trying to look out for her.

That had to be worth something.

* * *

Dr. Marie Moreau watched the new arrival working on the Harrier with distinct interest from a nearby doorway. The young woman brushed a lock of blonde hair back as Jake worked, his long, fluffy tail occasionally twitching irritably as he ran into one thing or another that was more troublesome than it should have been. She decided to head in and talk to him while she was still officially on her lunch break, rather than waiting for him to be finished.

"How's it going?" The slender young woman asked him, approaching the jet from the side, where she hoped he could see her without having to get up.

"It's going," he answered without moving to look at her, a mixture of irritation and satisfaction in his tone.

"Any interest in lunch?" She asked him, her tone friendly. "If you're like most of us here," she chuckled, "you probably haven't eaten since before you came in this morning."

He pulled his head out of the space he was working in and looked at her. "It's lunch time already?"

"Yep," she chuckled, holding her hand out to help him out if he wanted it and was both pleased and a touch surprised when he accepted it. "About one, actually. I got a little distracted too," she winked, something about her eyes just a little off compared to what Jake remembered seeing from most humans.

It was her scent, now that he got a full nose of it, that held his attention though. She smelled very good, like the best parts of home.

He shook it off and activated his holo-belt before smiling at her. "Cafeteria?"

"Sounds good to me," she smiled back. "Assuming nobody managed to burn it out yet," she winked as they started out. "Any idea how much longer the jet'll take you?" She asked curiously.

"Most of a week," he answered. "Chance has a flight scheduled for it then. From there, it depends on what he says about it."

"Who's Chance?" She asked him curiously. "I don't remember any test pilots by that name."

"He's my partner," Jake grinned, something decidedly affectionate in his human expression

"Oh, the other one who came with you," she smiled. "Well, I hope he does well with it. That thing's been a pain in the tail for decades, from what I've heard."

"VTOL always is," Jake chuckled and let himself relax, breathing in a scent from home and the best memories there. "What are you into?"

"Sorry," she blushed, extending her hand to him. "Dr. Marie Moreau, bioengineering. I've been here long enough, sometimes I forget that the new guys didn't have me growing up around 'em," she admitted sheepishly.

"Jake Clawson," he grinned and shook her hand. "Aeronautics, engineering, weapons, gunner, general Jack-of-all-trades."

"Well, nothing bio in there, so you won't put _me_ out of work anyways," Marie grinned back. "So, you really come from a planet of cat-people?" She asked with an enthusiastic edge to the normal curiosity he was getting used to from people who saw him.

"Cat-people, Kats, dog-people, Kantin, and otter-people, Muslid, are the main native races," he nodded. "There's also a smattering of others from crashes, accidents and summoning."

"Wow," she murmured, thinking about it. "Must get pretty interesting, huh?"

"It is, though not so much because of the races," he kind of shrugged. "Aristal as a world has about the same level of chaos as Eureka does. This place is actually a vacation. First time in over a decade we haven't been on call twenty-four/eight."

"What did you do back home, that you were on call like that?" She asked, guessing it was an eight-day week.

"Emergency response team," he told her. "Anytime something came up that the Enforcers, the law-enforcement/military of MegaKat City, couldn't handle, we did."

"What a waste," she sighed, then caught herself and blushed. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean.... Just stuck my foot in it, didn't I?"

"Yeah," he looked at her oddly.

"I didn't mean to say that what you were doing wasn't important," Marie said sheepishly. "It's just a shame your world couldn't put you to use in R&D somewhere instead."

"I tried that, industry wouldn't have me," he shrugged despite the bitter tone in his voice.

"Idiots," she muttered as they reached the cafeteria. "So, going to be heading back once you can, or sticking around here for a while?"

"We haven't decided yet," he admitted as they got in the short line.

"Well, I hope you do decide to stick around for a while," she smiled warmly, starting to pull together a large lunch fairly heavy on fish, meat, and with a large glass of milk.

Jake just nodded, not at all sure what to make of her lunch, or how to respond to the statement. Of course, it might well have just meant that she liked fish and meat, but it seemed like a lot compared to what even the big males were eating.

"So, how's your day been so far?" Marie asked easily as he got his food together and they went to a nearby table.

"Short," he chuckled. "It seems like I just started working on that jet. I wouldn't have noticed the time for at least a few more hours."

"And then you'd have been tired, hungry, and probably a little cranky when you got home," she winked. "If you'd like, I could come by while you're here, make sure you remember lunch?" She suggested, just a little hopefully he thought.

"If you want to," he ducked his head a bit. "And yeah, I probably would be, but Chance is used to it. He usually has to drag my tail away from work anyway."

"What's Chance like, anyways?" She asked, eating her lunch a little slowly as they talked. "He seems pretty important to you," she smiled.

"He's my partner," Jake said simply, then realized he was talking to someone who didn't understand what that really meant. "We've counted on each other, and only each other, for our lives for our entire adult lives in thousands of battles over the years," he paused to take a bite of his burger and think. "In special ops, you either know your teammates well enough to finish their sentences most days or you're dead. We managed not to die."

"Well, that covers why you're so close," Marie murmured. "You like him, beyond just being partners?"

"Yeah," he smiled fondly. "We're mates too."

"Oh," she said, blinking for a moment. "Well, you _must_ like him then," she smiled back. "So what _is_ he like?"

"Pretty typical flyboy hotshot with a good heart," Jake smiled, his mind drifting off and his face showing it. "He likes to play down how smart he is, and I kinda make it easy for him to, but he's a bright kat. Very, very sexy too," he purred deep in his chest, only catching on after he caught a curious look from another table.

"Sounds like you're in love," Marie told him with an amused smile.

"From even before I knew he wasn't really into guys," he nodded slightly. "For all it's what eventually changed his mind, at least about me, I'm still not sure it was worth having him that broken," Jake sighed and stared at his meal for a lingering moment before going on. "We were quite a pair back then. I was just starting to work out how to live again and he'd just lost everything he cared about. Never thought I'd be thankful for having the city losing a war."

"What happened?" Marie asked softly, giving him a little prompting to continue.

"Gave us both something to focus on besides just how screwed up our lives were," he almost chuckled. "I had a jet to build out of a salvage yard and he had some promise of getting back in the air as a goodkat again. It wasn't the Enforcers, but it was enough," he twirled a claw threw his soda. Despite being invisible, it left a trail in the dark liquid just below his fingertip. Suddenly he looked up ducked his head a bit. "Sorry, I'm blabbering. It's not often I get to talk about SWAT."

"That top secret?" she asked, not quite able to put together the pieces yet.

"You could say that," he chuckled dryly. "We were vigilantes. Wanted criminals for protecting our city. We both would have preferred a badge to a mask, but we couldn't turn away when she needed us so badly."

"Did you at least get credit for what you did, behind the masks?" She asked him gently, sure that it was something important to him.

"As the SWAT Kats, yes. It's hard to refute what the big news reporters manage to air live on a regular basis," he nodded slightly. "No one knew the SWAT Kats are us, though."

"And that's what hurt about it?" she guessed. "The downside, at least?"

"Not sure whether it was that, or being a criminal for it that was worse," he half shrugged. "I've kinda gotten used to the idea. Chance never has, probably never will either. Thirteen years ..." he shook his head. "We've been SWAT for a long time now. Longer than we've been anything else, really."

"Maybe it's time for a change?" Marie suggested gently. "Things sound like they're a lot different here."

"Maybe," he nodded. "There's a hell of a price to pay for that too. We'll never be able to go out as ourselves, at least not outside Eureka. We're both young enough that kits are possible if we aren't killed first. We gave a lot to a world that might not survive much longer," he said softly. "A chance for us to have a better life might well cost more lives than I can count back home, including a few we really care about."

"Him or her?" she asked curiously.

"Hu?" Jake looked up, startled and a bit confused.

"Who you left behind."

"Her," he chuckled weakly. "Two hers, really, but one ... Felina ... we really did try to make a go at a triad. It worked too, until the secret we couldn't talk about just got to be too much. Dating the Enforcer second-in-command when you're a wanted vigilante isn't that easy on anyone. Still miss her though."

"And no way would anybody approve a plan to bring more of your people over here," Marie acknowledged. "Well... okay, might be a way, but it'd probably take more coincidental mental breakdowns than anybody'd buy," she chuckled a little weakly. "If they'd even _want_ to change worlds. Sounds like she probably wouldn't, I'm guessing?"

"Not a chance," he shook his head. "She might be generally willing to look the other way for folks who break the letter of the law for the greater good, but there is no way she'd abandon Aristal, or her family."

"There's another question to ask, about going home then," she pointed out. "Would you _want_ to bring kits into a world you're not sure will last much longer? There... may be some options around here, after all."

"Sometimes I think they're the best hope we have," he shrugged. "Then I remember how poorly I get along with kittens."

For a moment, Marie stumbled mentally, trying to find a direction to take the conversation in that _wouldn't_ be so depressing to him. She knew full well that she'd started taking it that way, and it was at least partly her job to fix that.

Beverly would probably be working with him for months, if he stuck around that long.

"So... how do you like the food here?" Marie asked him, knowing it was a lame direction to take the conversation, and a painfully obvious change of topics, but having a devil of a time finding any other way to take it that was safe.

"Disturbingly like home," he quite willingly took the opening. "There was more difference going back in time than there is going to another world. It's kinda weird."

"Well, if everything's made roughly the same way," she mused. "You're adapting to the differences pretty well then? Or are you just used to getting shifted from one world to the next?"

"Not many differences to adapt to, and a bit of the second," Jake admitted with a rueful chuckle. "Between visiting the Dark Ages, the age of dinosaurs, a future gone decidedly wrong and an Aristal where we really were evil in one year, we kind of learned to roll with it pretty well."

"Whoa," she murmured, trying to think about all that happening so quickly to just two people. "That's pretty impressive. Intentional?"

"The future gone wrong was, kind of," he nodded. "The time mage who set it up to have the Metallikats take over in the first place came to us to take them out when they double-crossed him. The rest were accidents of one kind of another. Not always mine, either."

"And what about showing up here?" She asked, cocking her head slightly in a gesture so familiar to him it was almost funny to see it from a human.

" _Probably_ not my fault," he grinned sheepishly. "That dragon that came in with us was one the PastMaster, that time mage I was talking about, summoned. I'm fairly sure we didn't go through one of his vortexes, but we didn't have any new gear on board either. I fixed the glitch in the dimensional radar that sent us to the alternate Aristal years ago."

"Dimensional radar? What would that be?" Marie asked, glad to find a topic that should have been fairly safe.

"You know what radar is, right?" he began and got a nod. "We'll it's an upgrade I designed," he paused when her beeper went off and cocked his head, waiting for her to answer it.

"Oh damn," she hurried to her feet. "I'm late for an appointment, and so are you."

"Hu?" he blinked and stood with her. "It's three already?"

"Yes, come on. At least you can't be _too_ late, right?" She grinned sheepishly at him as they disposed of their trays and hurried down towards the bio-tech labs.

"You're the one doing the exam?" Jake asked as they moved through the halls.

"Part of it," she confirmed. "We don't have any baselines for your species, so I'll be handling what we need to at least have a good guess if what we're reading from the two of you is in normal ranges or not."

"I can give you a pretty good estimate too," Jake told her. "I'm not a doctor by an stretch, but we've had to take care of our own injuries long enough that we both have a good idea what we want to see."

"That'll help a lot," she smiled. "But let's see how close I can get with what I've already got," she winked as they reached a large closed door. "Oh, and don't worry, I won't be handling the _actual_ physical exam or anything, just the information from it," she ran her ID card against the scanner panel and it slid open for them. "Sorry we're late, we got distracted over lunch."

"I expected as much, once we saw he wasn't with the Harrier," an older man smiled, looking at Marie and Jake as Jake turned his holo-belt off. "Dr. Jean Moreau, Marie's father. I've already met your partner, Chance," he said, nodding towards the tabby. "Marie, if you could go suit up?"

"Sure thing, Dad," she said cheerfully, heading off into the next room.

"Hello, Allison, Taggart," Jake nodded to the other two humans in the room and walked over to his partner to squeeze his hand and press close. It was more of a public display than usual, and one that Chance was really getting to like.

"By the way, we need to talk about something once we're home tonight," Chance murmured quietly to him.

"All right," Jake looked at him worriedly, but quickly put it in the back of his mind to focus on the exam he was decidedly not looking forward to.

"Could the two of you remove your shirts, please?" Dr. Moreau asked politely. "If you'd like Marie or Agent Blake to leave the room before you have to strip for anything, that can be arranged."

"I don't mind," Chance shrugged and stripped his shirt and undershirt with a bit of flair meant to show off his body to the two women in question. Jake wasn't nearly as comfortable, but his shirt came off quickly and without complaint.

Marie came back in a moment later, giving them both a brief, appreciative look before wheeling in the large cabinet she was going to have to use.

"Okay, I just have to get some baselines for the two of you before we can keep going with the exam," she explained. "Would you like me to go over how the machine works?" She asked as she pulled out the sensors, removing the adhesive pads and replacing them with small clips that could go onto their fur, familiar with the fact that some patients preferred to know just what she was up to, especially after the word 'bioengineering' came up in conversation.

"Yes," Jake said firmly, eyeing the device. Neither his partner nor Marie believed he didn't already understand at least half of it.

"We'll hook you up first then, hmm?" She smiled, waiting until she had a nod to get started. "It's similar to any other biological sensor; it picks up heart rate, blood pressure, temperature, and a number of other readings. The computers in the cabinet collect the data and put it all together. Ideally I'd have more than just two of you to take readings from; then the statistical package could come up with a set of true baselines, or at least a reasonably safe range, for your species. 

"As it is," she continued, "it's programmed to take your readings, the information I give it about the two of you, and extrapolate a set of reasonable assumptions, based on human readings with a bit of a feline influence." She fastened the second sensor into Jake's fur, near his chest, pressing the probes against his skin. "You two don't have any pre-existing conditions that you're aware of, do you?"

"No," Jake shook his head, answering for both of them.

"Smoking or drinking?" She asked, going over to the machine and taking a look at the readouts. "What's your usual heart rate, in beats per minute, Jake?"

"Don't smoke, drink occasionally," he told her, then did a bit of mental math. "About fifty-five, but it's there now."

"Wish I'd managed to talk Deputy Lupo into volunteering for my readings," Marie murmured as she fiddled with a few things. "Could you confirm that, Dad?"

"Where do you normally take a pulse?" The older Doctor asked Jake politely.

"Throat is the easiest," he pointed out the large blood vessel to the right side of his windpipe. "Base of the ear and wrist are secondary." 

"Human norm," he murmured with an approving nod, pressing his fingers against Jake's throat and watching his watch. "Fifty five," he nodded, looking over at Marie.

"Got it then," she nodded. "Any clue what's normal for blood pressure and temperature?"

"50/96 and a 104 degrees," Jake told them. "At least I think that's the right translation. Again, what you're reading is going to be at least close."

"Fahrenheit, gotcha," she nodded, flipping a switch. "Glad I don't have to be worried about that; that's high fever and going into shock ranges for humans. Normal for you, or species norm?"

"Species norm," Jake told her. "Below 101 or above 107 are generally considered dangerous."

"110 is when we start looking at a hospital option," Chance added quietly, the memory of such an event still too fresh in his mind despite its age.

"We'll make the note," Dr. Moreau nodded as Marie took a few more readings.

"I'll have to see what I get from Chance, but I think I'm mostly done for now," she offered.

"Would you be more comfortable wearing sensor pads for a day than taking a full-on physical?" Allison asked Jake as Marie unhooked her sensors.

Both of them considered it. Jake nodded.

"That's an option?" Chance looked at her in surprise.

"Many relatively important people around here wouldn't be working if it wasn't," she said with a bit of a smirk. "A full physical _is_ a preferable option though; it's more thorough, better chance of catching anything. And I'm not sure what the pads would do on your fur," she admitted.

"Can you walk on these pads?" Jake asked her.

"It would be _much_ better if you didn't, but...." She glanced at Marie.

"Given you are a new species, we really should get as much information as possible," Taggart pointed out. "I wouldn't want to go into surgery with only what the sensor pad gives."

"No, but it would dramatically cut down on what we need to check in the full physical," Dr. Moreau said.

"Might throw off some of the readings, but the worst that happens is we have to wait a day or two before giving them a regular physical," Marie shrugged. "We could do the full physical in pieces too," she added after a thought. "If you'd rather just do a few tests a day."

"Sounds good to me," Chance nodded quickly.

"Shoes off then," Marie said easily, pulling out another set of pads as the guys sat down and pulled off their shoes and socks. "We'll get what we can, at any rate. Just going to want to be careful about baths for the next day or so."

"We will," Jake promised.

"Is there anything we _shouldn't_ do while we're wearing these?" Chance asked, raising an eyebrow as Marie carefully fixed the pads to the bare skin on the pads of Jake's right foot. 

"Dying is frowned on," Dr. Moreau chuckled. "Car crashes... plane crashes...."

"High-g-force test flights," Marie added more seriously. "At least at this point."

"I try to avoid those anyway," Jake murmured.

"I'll keep it to a dull roar," Chance promised with a quirky grin. "There isn't one scheduled for a few days anyway."

"I'd also lay off the alcohol, medications, or other sorts of chemical additions to your body that aren't normal food," Marie added, putting them onto Chance's right foot next. "Best to avoid anything that would influence the readings abnormally."

"Which means stay off the race track," Jake snickered. "We'll behave."

"You're just taking all the fun out of life," Chance pouted, though he wasn't seriously upset.

"Well, in that case, unless the two of you want to go through a few tests now you can be on your way?" Dr. Moreau offered as they got their socks and shoes back on.

"Just let me get the basics on Chance and we can let them go," Marie piped up.

"All right," the tabby nodded and held patiently still while she attached the sensors to him, ready to go through the same rigmarole Jake just had.

* * *

"Zoe!" Jack called out to his daughter as S.A.R.A.H. closed the sealed door to the bunker behind him. "We have company for dinner tonight."

"Really?" She called back excitedly. "So you asked them?" She asked him, coming out of her room with a hopeful grin.

"Yes, and they're coming over," he said, already questioning the wisdom of the choice once again. "So go put on something appropriate for guests."

"Okay," she said cheerfully, heading back into her room to change.

Carter shook his head, heading off to change on his own.

"Are we having guests tonight, Sheriff Carter?" S.A.R.A.H. asked politely as he changed his shirt.

"Yeah," he told the house, groaning a bit as he stretched out. "Our two new arrivals, Jake and Chance."

"What should I make?" She asked him, not having anything in her databases about them or what they'd like.

"Steak and potatoes," he decided after a thought.

"Ribeye, t-bone, porter -"

"Not _that_ picky, S.A.R.A.H.," he laughed, shaking his head, then pausing for a minute. "Not the t-bone though. There's a pun there, not sure I want to risk encouraging Zoe in that direction. Just... whatever you've got that can grill up fairly soon, they'll be here in a half-hour or so, maybe."

"All right," she said agreeably, quieting down and starting to prepare dinner.

"And how are we doing on milk?" He asked her as he changed into a clean shirt and pair of pants, not entirely sure what they'd end up wanting to drink, but wanting to make sure it was available.

"We'll need more the day after tomorrow, Sheriff," S.A.R.A.H. informed him.

"Good," he nodded to himself and headed downstairs to decide if he needed to send Zoe to change again.

Fortunately, she'd changed into something appropriate; casual, but not _so_ casual that it might be a problem. Not like they were going for a black tie affair, but sometimes her idea of 'ready for company' was a little loose and far too revealing.

"So it passes muster?" she half teased.

"Yes," he nodded.

"So when are they coming over?" she tried not to bounce too much.

"Any time now, assuming they didn't get sidetracked by something," he said.

"C'mon, Dad, what would they get sidetracked by around here?" Zoe laughed, shaking her head. "Sounds like they'd be more at home in L.A. than around here."

"Probably, except that they actually think this place is a vacation, trouble-wise," he shook his head and sat on the couch. "I really don't want to think about that too much."

"No kidding," she admitted. "So, how'd things go today?"

"The impossible happened, Jo got to the office after I did," he half chuckled. "Otherwise, fairly dull."

"Wow... she okay?" Zoe asked, honest concern in her voice. "Not sick or something?"

"Nothing serious, I don't think. Reminded me of your mother in a really bad month. I didn't really feel up to asking with that look on her face," he admitted.

"Scary day, huh?" Zoe said, trying not to think about it too much.

"Yeah," Carter admitted. "So, your day?"

"The usual," she shrugged, then looked up when the door bell rang. "S.A.R.A.H., door," she called and ran up to greet their guests.

"Hi!" She said enthusiastically as she met Chance and Jake just inside the door.

"Hi, Zoe," Chance said, looking around the place. "You guys live in a bunker?" He asked curiously.

"Self-Actuated Residential Automated Habitat actually. S.A.R.A.H. for short," her feminine voice corrected him politely.

"Don't even _think_ about it," Chance glared at his wide-eyed partner.

"An AI house?" Jake nearly squeaked. "You have AI houses?"

"Yes, Jake," S.A.R.A.H. answered. "Though I am currently the only one."

"Jake," Chance said with a warning tone. "I don't think they'll appreciate you trying to turn our place into one if we stay here...."

"You're just still sore about when I put one in the TurboKat," Jake crossed his arms. "She was right and you know it."

"I will not have inanimate objects back talking me," the tabby snapped back, though their 'argument' didn't fool anyone. "Especially not the house."

"C'mon, think about how much easier things would be," Jake pointed out.

"Just be careful about programming over old AI's, if you _do_ do it," Carter said, heading into the kitchen. "How do you guys like your steaks?"

"Medium rare," Chance answered.

"Medium for mine," Jake added. "Unless that's that special Japanese beef I read about."

"Are you kidding?" Carter chuckled, shaking his head. "Vincent _might_ be able to get his hands on that, but this is good old fashioned black angus. Even the American version's not easy to find, surprised you'd know about it," he said conversationally. "What's everybody want to drink?" He asked, grabbing a beer for himself as S.A.R.A.H. started preparing their stakes.

"Look up 'domestic meat animals' and it's on the list of specialties," Jake grinned at him. "What fruit juices do you have?"

"Orange, apple, cranberry and apple cider," S.A.R.A.H. answered happily, delighted to have such interesting, and interested, guests.

"Orange juice for me then," Jake decided.

"Do I smell beer?" Chance looked at Carter's drink hopefully.

"No alcohol, remember?" Jake countered.

"Yeah ... umm, soda or milk?" He asked.

"Physicals, huh?" Carter guessed, bringing out two bottles of cola, one for Chance and the other for Zoe as S.A.R.A.H. brought out a glass of juice for Jake.

"Thanks," Jake took the glass.

"Yeah," Chance shrugged slightly, taking the bottle. "Thanks. It's a major pain."

"Makes the Enforcer version seem easy," Jake chuckled and leaned against the side of the couch. "But they knew what they were dealing with too."

"Yeah, I'll be that's weird," Zoe agreed. "By the way, I know about you not being from around here...."

"I think Zoe's hinting that I should let you know you can turn off the disguises," Carter chuckled, sitting down. "That's one secret that I don't think is going to last too long around here, really, assuming it still is one. Dinner should be ready pretty soon."

"Right," Chance chuckled and clicked the device off to reveal his rich striped fur, which Zoe proceeded to ogle, right along with Jake's when his illusion turned off. She wasn't alone in appreciating the tabby's natural appearance either.

"Surprised?" Chance asked with a bit of a chuckle.

"Only a little," she murmured and reached out to touch an exposed arm. "So soft."

"Only sometimes," Jake purred softly.

"Watch it, Jake," Chance chuckled, blushing a bit as Zoe petted his fur and he reminded himself that there were any of a dozen different good reasons not to flirt with her. Not the least of which was the older human nursing his beer across the table.

"Zoe, he's not a pet," Carter reminded her, keeping a sharp eye on how much tolerance his guests had left to being poked and prodded ... or petted.

"Don't worry, I think I'd better get used to it," Chance chuckled. "After all, any time I'm not wearing my gloves and shake somebody's hand they'll find out."

"I know, Dad," Zoe blushed a bit, pulling her hand back. "It _is_ soft though," she smiled at Chance a bit shyly.

"So's he," Chance grinned at his partner.

"Dinner's ready," S.A.R.A.H. chimed in.

'Thank heavens,' Carter thought silently to himself, getting up to grab the plates. "Chance? Could you help me out with these?" He asked the tabby.

"Sure thing," Chance said easily, getting up and following him to the kitchen. "You have a very spunky kid," he added when they were in relative privacy.

"Yeah, sorry about that," Carter chuckled. "She's... quite a handful, a lot of the time," he admitted. "Means the world to me though," he added, glancing at Chance as he handed the tabby his plate and Jake's.

"I know the feeling," he smiled back at Carter. "Really. She's not a problem. I like spunk."

"Had a feeling you would," the Sheriff chuckled.

"Mind if I ask a personal question?" Chance asked.

"Shoot," Carter shrugged.

"Is her mother...."

"Living back in L.A.," Carter said easily. "The usual story when one person's in law enforcement and the other isn't. Especially when the one who _is_ gets assignments that span the whole country sometimes."

"Ouch," Chance winced. "Sorry 'bout that," he said sincerely.

"We both knew what the deal was when we married," Carter half-shrugged.

"Yeah, same here. It doesn't make it any easier when it falls apart," Chance told him. "At least your daughter knows who you are."

"Yeah, and at least I know she's mine," Carter nodded, both of them knowing that neither of those was always a safe bet. "C'mon, let's get back in before Zoe tries to see if Jake likes being scratched between the ears," he chuckled.

"A lot," Chance chuckled. "Along the jaw too. He'll melt."

"Thanks for the tip!" Zoe called out to them with a grin, though she was visibly _not_ testing it out.

"Zoe," Carter groaned with a warning tone, handing her plate over with a well-done steak, mashed potatoes, and some veggies on the side.

"Who'd actually object?" Jake piped up even as he sat at the glass and black wood dinning room table.

Chance laughed and reached over to scritch his jaw after sitting down. His eyes shone with amusement and a very real adoration of the lean tom that trembled slightly at the touch, then closed his eyes and relaxed into it.

"Her father, maybe," Chance chuckled with a wink. "Now, c'mon and eat, this looks too good to let it get cold."

"Mmm, true, and smells good, but you owe me the rest of that tonight," Jake grinned at him.

"Deal," Chance chuckled, giving Jake's shoulders one last scritch before starting to cut up his steak.

"So, you two are an item?" Zoe asked as she worked on the mashed potatoes.

"For almost thirteen years now," Chance nodded, then cut himself off from saying something more. "Later," he said softly to Jake's curious look.

"Okay," the smaller tom said with a bit of a shrug. "This is good," he said approvingly after taking a bite of the steak.

"Thank you, Jake. Are you all right, Chance?" S.A.R.A.H. broke in. "You're heart rate and respiration have increased noticeably."

"I'm fine," he insisted.

"You'd think he was going to propose," Zoe giggled between bites.

"I'm not _that_ wound up," Chance objected. "Not nearly. If it was that, I'd probably be fainting," he chuckled.

"Gee, thanks," Jake muttered in mock-indignation, swatting Chance's shoulder lightly.

"You two are _so_ married," Zoe rolled her eyes.

"You spend seventeen years with somebody, you will be too," Chance smirked at her. "Just you wait and see."

"As if," she scoffed. "So, how do you guys like it here?"

"It's not bad," Chance said. "Speed limit sucks, it's kinda cold, food's good, people are weird in a good way," he shrugged. "It's not home, but it's not a bad town."

"Sounds about right," the teen agreed. "Have to show you some of the less-weird places some time," she grinned.

"I don't suppose you know what channel runs cartoons?" Jake asked with a teasing grin.

"Eureka receives Cartoon Network, Boomerang, Nickelodeon, PBS Kids Sprout, Noggin, Nicktoons Network, all Disney channels, several international channels, as well as many networks that air them at particular times," S.A.R.A.H. offered.

"You're a cartoon junky?" Carter asked Jake a little incredulously.

"No, I am," Chance chuckled. "Just glad we don't have Litterbin around here," he smirked back at Jake.

"Litterbin?" Carter raised an eyebrow.

"A guy who thinks he's a comedian talking to people who really ought to have better things to do with their lives and cracking bad jokes about current events."

"Wanna bet he's close to Letterman?" Zoe giggled.

"I'll look it up," Jake winked at her.

"Well, that proves it, guy's a plague," Chance groaned, though there was the tone of an obvious old 'argument' between the two Kats about it. "He's even infected other worlds."

"S.A.R.A.H., is there a cartoon called Fraidy Cat?" Jake asked.

"Yes, Jake. If Chance likes it, he will also likely enjoy the various Scooby Doo series and movies, as well as Tom and Jerry and several related cartoon of the seventies and early eighties," S.A.R.A.H. suggested.

"Well... maybe it's not a total lost cause," Chance chuckled.

"Okay, I am officially afraid," Carter shook his head.

"Don't worry, he's not the one who invents stuff. He just drives it," Jake grinned.

" _That's_ what scares me," Carter chuckled.

"Hey, it could be worse, I could be looking to be your next deputy," Chance smirked.

"I give it a month, tops," Jake smirked. "You'll be bored out of your skull otherwise."

"Trust me, Eureka does _not_ do boring," Carter chuckled. "But you're probably right about it being better for him in test piloting."

"Yeah, sounds like you guys don't need a pilot working around here too much," Chance agreed. "Though if you need somebody to run a chopper for you, just let me at the testing first and I'll get the license easy. If we stick around," he added.

"Just don't be surprised when you find the TurboKat responding to police calls," Jake chuckled. "It's seriously old habit."

"Please try to give us some warning first," Carter said seriously. "You don't _want_ to know what Jo would do about that sort of thing without it."

"I think I already do," Chance pointed out. "We'll call in the response."

"Oh I don't mean trying to shoot you down," the Sheriff chuckled. "I mean when she reads you the riot act afterwards. Woman can be downright _mean_ when she wants to be."

"Sounds like Felina," Jake snickered. "And I seriously doubt Jo can top Feral for screaming about us, or at us. He's had a decade and a half to perfect his outrage."

"Yeah ... she might have a few new takes on it though," Chance chuckled. "Don't worry though. I don't want to get her mad at me either, _especially_ not after seeing her at the target range."

"Ditto," Jake nodded. "Though we'll probably manage anyway. It seems to be our luck, right along with making things work."

"Better with machines than authority figures, huh?" Zoe asked, at least somewhat sympathetically.

"More my problem than Jake's," Chance admitted.

"More about incompetent, self-righteous authority figure problems," Jake elaborated.

"Is there... sorry," Zoe said, blushing and glancing at her Dad, catching herself.

"I'll assume you were thinking of Stark's approach to law enforcement, and we'll call it even," Carter chuckled, the four of them settling into small talk about current events and the differences between their worlds for the rest of the meal.

* * *

"You don't plan on staying," Jo sized Jim Taggart up when she opened the door to her home shortly after dark.

"Well, I hadn't been," he admitted a little sheepishly. "There was something queer out last night, and it's usually only around here a few nights every few months," he explained, hoping she'd take it well. He knew from her expression that it wasn't going to be so simple, but she stepped back and motioned him in.

"I was hoping you'd stay tonight," she said a bit more softly than usual.

Now, there were some people in town, the Sheriff included, who tended to think that Taggart was more comfortable in the woods, hunting his impossible creatures, than he was with people. To a certain extent, it was even true.

However, not even he was dense enough to miss that she definitely wasn't happy with the idea of him leaving - or to think that he shouldn't find a way of changing that.

"Well, I suppose I could let the bugger take the night off," he said with a half-way grin, chuckling a little as he followed her in. "New window?" He asked, glancing at the large picture window as he recognized something a little different about the room.

"Something crashed through it last night," she shrugged even as he began to sniff at the scent of a hot meal. "Left the place a mess, but nothing else."

"Wolf?" He asked, looking over at her curiously.

"I wouldn't think so, but I didn't see it," she shook her head. "Somehow I managed to sleep through it."

"Ah," he nodded slightly. "Must've been quite a shock in the morning. Why didn't you say anything earlier?" He asked her.

"I called it in before work and a crew had cleaned everything up by the time I got home," she shrugged and went into the kitchen to bring out the main plate of spaghetti and meatballs. "It's not that big a deal, really."

"All right," he acknowledged, letting it rest and taking a seat as she did the same. "Dinner smells great," he offered, switching the subject.

"Thanks," she smiled and served them. "Why do you think it might have been a wolf? They don't live around here."

"Oh there's one that does," he said seriously. "That's who I was out hunting last night. Big one too... bigger than she ought to be, by quite a bit."

"Think it might be from Global?" Jo looked at him seriously. "And just how big?"

"Something like this, they'd have told me if it had gotten loose, and it's been coming around for years now," Taggart said seriously. "Besides, not that many folks who'd be creating something like that since ... well, for a while now. And you're going to think I'm crazy, but what I saw last night was the size of a grizzly, a large one, easily."

"Maybe somebody's pet that keeps getting out? The Moreaus are prone to creating animal oddities even more than you," she pointed out even as her stomach turned over. "Though you're right. Anything that big escaping would be brought to your attention, and mine."

"Could be... suppose I might ask Jean about it next time I'm up there," Taggart admitted, half-mangling the name despite his familiarity with it. "More his style than Marie's."

"She's more level headed that he is," she chuckled. "I doubt she'd have created a 'pet' like that, especially not years ago."

"Nah, she wouldn't have been up for it years ago," he chuckled. "Besides, think she's more a cougar type of girl than wolves. Whatever it is, the strangest part's the timing ... full moons, always, but only every few months. If I didn't know better," he chuckled, "I'd think it was a werewolf or somesuch."

He caught the look on her face, one she wiped away quickly enough he almost doubted he'd seen it.

"You _know_ those never existed," she told him firmly.

"No more than vampires or kitsune," he agreed with a bit of a shrug, wondering about the look but leaving it alone. Probably just a trick of the lighting. "Stories had to come from somewhere though, and I know there's something out there."

"Something sure, but not a human that turns into a gigantic wolf," she scoffed at the idea. "It's much more likely to be one of Moreau's pets that escapes and come home every so often. It'd hardly be the first one. Remember that deer with wings he had us chasing around a few years back?"

"Cervidae Haliaeetus. Don't remind me," he shuddered. "Putting corn up on a pole in the dead of night and waiting with an industrial net .... And no, nothing that ridiculous. Just some species that's big enough folks started tellin' stories... like how folks used to talk about a critter that was part camel, part leopard, then we found out it was just the giraffe."

"True," she nodded between bites. "Must be fairly clever if it's eluded you for so long."

"That she is," he nodded, remembering to eat his own meal before it went cold. "Almost had her last night. Managed to hit her with a tranq, but she pulled out the dart and shrugged it off. Have to try something stronger, now that I know how big she is."

"This long and last night was the first time you saw it?" Jo looked at him in surprise. "It must be pretty smart. Were you able to tell anything else?"

"Dark, but nothing unusual," he admitted. "Doesn't seem to be too aggressive - she ran instead of attacking me. Tracks weren't quite right for a wolf's, even one that big, but that's the only other thing I could tell. And smart enough to avoid every trap but bait with me watching it downwind."

"That smart means it'll probably be a lot more wary next time," Jo put her mind to work on it. "Have you tried drugged bait?"

"Three different types, smelled it each time," he admitted. "Even one that Lojack fell for once, and _that_ says something. Should have another try tomorrow night though."

"Maybe we'll go out together," she suggested. "I'm as good a hunter as anyone in town."

"You'd be welcome," he said seriously. "'Course," he chuckled, "if she _was_ what broke your window last night, we might have another visit yet."

"You know where I keep my weapons," Jo reminded him. "Might want to bring your rifle in tonight, though."

"You know, I think you're the only person who'd make that offer and not be joking," he smiled.

"You mean someone else has said it?" she raised an eyebrow with amusement in her eyes. "When does it usually come out?"

"Not that I ever remember," he chuckled. "And usually not for a couple more hours."

"Mmm, that means we have some time to fool around before we need to worry about it," she grinned at him.

"Mmm... and still a night to go if we lose track of the time," he grinned back.

* * *

"Thanks for coming over," Zoe said as Jake and Chance climbed into the truck they'd driven over. "Maybe some time I can introduce you guys to the clubs around here," she grinned.

"Thanks for dinner, it was great," Chance smiled, starting the Thunder Truck. "And maybe you can; we'll have to see, I guess. Have a good night, both of you!" He said cheerfully before pulling out.

"So, what do you think of 'em?" He asked Jake after a minute or so.

"He's pretty cool for a cop," Jake chuckled. "Zoe's just a bundle of energy. Watch out for her in a few years."

"Tell me about it," Chance chuckled. "She does _not_ act like somebody her age back home."

"No kidding," Jake shook his head. "Though can you imagine having to wait until you're eighteen to fool around?"

"Eh, I've got a hunch the rules are different with kids your own age, but I'd have to look it up and it's not like I count," Chance shrugged. "Can't see 'em putting two people in jail for doing something they both enjoyed with each other that didn't involve anybody else. Can you believe they stuck another three years on top of that before drinking?" He laughed.

"That's ... talk about over-controlling," Jake shook his head. "But they will put consenting adults in jail, or did until very recently. One of the biggest political battles right now is over banning same-sex marriage and other rights. They only took interest in the same gender off the psychological illness books a few years ago."

"Great," Chance muttered. "The nuts out in the boonies became the norm, I guess. At least it doesn't _seem_ to be like that around here. Something for us to think about though."

"Yeah, it is. Other countries ... some are worse, a lot worse, some are better, but none of the governments are exactly friendly. Still, as far we _we're_ concerned, not being human is going to be our biggest concern," Jake leaned back and watched the scenery. "The thing about staying ... once I figure out what got us here, we can leave whenever we want. Next week, or next decade. Can probably even come back."

"Unless it takes the Past Master to do it... in which case, it's probably a moot point," Chance admitted. "Different topic for a bit?"

"Sure," Jake nodded.

"Well... I was thinking," Chance said as they drove away. "No cracks," he added with a smirk for his mate. "But... if we do stay around here... we wouldn't have to hide _some_ things as much anymore. Might even be able to exchange collars?" He suggested, hoping to get Jake's general feel for it.

Shock was the first thing that came across, loud and clear, as Jake stared at him with his mouth open a bit.

"You ... you're serious, aren't you?" Jake finally managed.

"Yeah," Chance said, knowing that now wasn't the time for a joke. "I mean... the only reason we _didn't_ before was because we didn't want anybody to trace 'em if we were spotted with them on as SWAT... wasn't it?"

"I ... no," Jake murmured, still largely in shock even as his brain started to kick into gear. "We could have just taken them off with our civvies," he glanced over at the tabby, his gaze lingering as he assessed this new information that countered much of what he thought was going on between them. "I never thought you'd want to."

"Only reason I never brought it up was because of SWAT and 'cause I figured you would if you'd wanted to," Chance admitted, keeping his eyes on the unfamiliar roads as much as he wanted to look over at Jake. "Jake... you _do_ know that I love you, right?" He asked. He didn't say it as often as he should have, he knew ... he'd just always figured that it didn't really _need_ saying.

This reminded him of just how dense Jake could be about that sort of thing, for being a smart kat otherwise.

The silence that lasted just a little too long was an even stronger reminder. The devotion that asked for nothing in return was a blessing, but it could drive him crazy at times too.

"Honestly ... I try not to think about it much," Jake admitted, his gaze out the truck's window now. "Brings up too many questions I don't know if I want to know the answers to."

"Try me some time," Chance said softly, gently. "I _do_ love you, Jake. Wouldn't have been with you this long if I didn't," he pointed out. "Not the way we are, anyways."

Jake kept his eyes on the dark trees, or rather, kept them on something other than who he was talking to.

Chance could see out of the corner of his eye what was going on. He'd watched it before, just never directed his way as far as he knew. His partner was chasing something in his mind, weighing risks and rewards; the possible outcomes and what they meant.

He hated this part of dealing with Jake. That analytical mind turned to analyzing emotions and personal repercussions. There wasn't a damn thing he could do about it either. Not anymore. Once that process started it couldn't be stopped.

How the hell could he have known that suggesting collars would bring up _this_?

Even worse, how could Jake possibly believe they were mates for any reason other than love?

It was enough to drive Chance crazy sometimes.

"How could you change what you are?" Jake finally asked, still not looking at him, his voice low and honestly at a loss. "You've never been into toms, you still aren't."

"Jake... maybe I wasn't _that_ into toms, but it doesn't mean I'd never looked at 'em before," Chance pointed out. "I just like fems better, usually. Besides... you're not _just_ another tom," he said seriously, deciding to pull off at a wide spot along the shoulder, turning to put his hand on the other tom's shoulder. He felt the trembling that the darkness concealed.

"You're my partner, my lover, my best friend, brilliant, and damned cute," he said with a slightly awkward smile. "What's not to love? What _I_ can't get is how you ever thought I'd call you my mate if I _didn't_ feel like that for you."

"The other half of what I don't like to think about too much," Jake shrugged and looked away, but this time he was looking away from himself. "I still can't understand why you do. I just know I never want it to stop."

"Ah, Jake," Chance sighed, leaning over and wrapping his arms around the lean tom. "C'mere. You're thinking too much."

There was no resistance to the idea, in fact, Jake all but melted into the contact, more than willing to comply.

* * *

Taggart snapped awake to a scream of pain and the crashing of plate glass. He was on his feet with his rifle in hand before the howl split the darkness only yards outside the house.

The alarm came next, screaming through the night as the delay time to turn it off expired.

"Damn it," he swore, grabbing his boxers and looking around for Jo. She wasn't there ... she might have gone after it already.

Or it might have grabbed her, for some reason.

He hurried out into the front room, grabbing Jo's radio from the table as he got out as carefully as he could. The wolf was already gone... he started out, turning on the radio as he hurried to track it as fast as he could, keying it up and trying to reach Sheriff Carter.

"Carter," his sleepy voice answered reluctantly.

"Carter, this is Taggart," the tall, thin man explained quickly and quietly. "We've got a giant wolf of some sort, just broke into Jo's place. Either she's following it, or it's got her, either way we're going to need some help."

"Right, on my way," Carter sounded fully awake now. "Alert anyone else who can help."

"With this thing? She's already out there," Taggart said seriously, sincerely hoping he'd catch Jo not too far ahead, on the bitch's trail. "I'll leave the radio on, track me down with that." He hooked it onto the waistband of his boxers, entirely unconcerned with the fact that he was mostly naked. He stopped by his truck to grab night vision goggles and two straps of extra ammo and a couple combat knives.

Then he headed for the side of the house where the glass was broken out, absently noting that most of the fragments were on the outside and moved on, following the trail of blood.

He wasn't too surprised when the trail stopped, not this time. He was able to follow the tracks more easily though, familiar with the subtle difference between his quarry's and a real wolf's.

Unfortunately, it meant he had to slow down to find them... meaning that he was probably falling behind the wolf, and the woman he was sure was following it.

"Josephina, one of these days you'll bite off more than you can chew," he muttered to himself.

He heard the sheriff approaching long before the other man's light was visible in the darkness. Carter was a lousy hunter, even if he was a good shot.

He just hoped the Sheriff wouldn't tip off the wolf they were coming.

"Okay, that was _not_ something I needed to see," Carter groaned to himself as he saw Taggart and fell in behind him, not bothering to ask any more questions as they moved through the forest.

* * *

Chance shivered in his own excitement as Jake's cock throbbed hot and hard beneath his fingers and he moaned his pleasure and surrender without reservation. No matter how screwed up Jake could get when he tried to understand people, no matter how many doubts he might have about his mate's reasons, there was no doubting how willing he was. It was the one thing Chance never had to worry about. He'd seen Jake when the attention was unwelcome. He knew where he stood.

He kissed him, deeply, moaning into his mouth as his own shaft strained against his pants, stroking Jake's lightly.

"Mmm ... think the bed of the truck's clear enough?" He asked with a deep purr.

"Y-yes," Jake moaned as he pressed up into Chance's hand shamelessly. "Don't really want to move," he added breathlessly.

"Don't have to, yet," Chance grinned, stroking a bit faster, tightening his grip. "Mmm ... but you won't fit in my lap over here," he winked, wrapping his other arm around Jake's back, trying to make him come as quickly as he could.

"Ohhh," Jake's body trembled, then stiffened as he thrust into Chance's hand, his breath hot and fast as he let his head roll back and came with a deep, throaty moan.

"Mmm ... that's a good kitty," Chance purred, kissing Jake tenderly. "C'mon now," he grinned. "In the back, and we'll see if you drown out the dogs out there," he winked as they heard a howl, off deep in the woods.

"You know you can make me," he grinned lazily as they separated enough to get out of the truck, only to have Jake swept up in Chance's arms for the short walk to the back of the tow truck.

"And is that an excuse not to try?" Chance winked, lifting his mate up into the cold, hard bed of the truck, climbing up himself, undoing his pants and straddling Jake's hips, kissing him hungrily. "Mmm ... remember, if anybody asks, no rules against extreme PDA back home," he grinned.

"This far outside town, it's true," Jake shuddered in anticipation and spread his legs even as part of him was tracking the rapid approach of the howls.

Chance was about ready to press into him when the two of them were interrupted by a howl that was practically on top of them. They looked in its direction just before a massive wolf looked up above the edge of the truck, down at them, holding onto the edge and actually physically shifting the tow truck as it snarled at them.

Chance's claws were out in a flash, and he swiped at the huge beast, leaving four long, ragged scratches down the side of its muzzle and across its nose, blood spattering his fur and the side of the truck even as Jake scrambled backwards to grab a blaster rifle in a hidden compartment of the tool box.

Jake got off two shots, aimed squarely at the monster's chest as Chance dodged a swipe aimed at decapitating him that ripped the tow truck's hoist off instead.

"Holy _shit_ what is this thing?" Chance swore, moving around to grab a second blaster as the wolf dropped down, deciding to flee rather than deal with the advanced weapons that actually hurt it.

"One _big_ fucking wolf-monster," Jake answered as Chance pulled up his pants and Jake scrambled towards the cab to get his own.

"Who's there?" Sheriff Carter's voice yelled out at them from the forest in the direction the beast had come from.

"SWAT Kats!" Chance yelled back even as both he jumped down from the truck bed to join the hunt. "It's hit and hurt," he added as Jake was pulling his pants up.

"What is?" Carter asked as he and Taggart came out of the trees.

"One _big_ fucking wolf-monster," Jake repeated and tossed Chance his Glovatrix.

"Okay, what is it about half-naked men tonight?" Carter sighed, shaking his head.

"Was Jo behind it?" Taggart asked, ignoring the two tom's state of undress.

"No," Chance asked, he and Jake quickly getting their clothes back on. "Wasn't anywhere near it."

"Must've gotten lost in the woods then," Taggart murmured, deeply disturbed by the idea of Jo losing such a loud target. He just _hoped_ she'd lost it, rather than having been hurt no signs of a fight, or of her being injured. He just kept reminding himself of that.

"Then let's follow the blood while we have it," Carter got them all moving again.

"Where'd you hurt it?" Taggart asked on the run.

"Claws across the face, two blaster shots to the chest," Chance told him with a motion towards the weapon Jake was holding. "Didn't slow it down."

"You're _lucky_ Jo wasn't here," Carter half-chuckled as they started following Taggart. "She'd have skinned you for it, once the thing was down."

"Shh!" Taggart scolded. "Got to focus." Before long, the four had disappeared into the dark forest, leaving the damaged truck alone by the side of the road.

The blood trail didn't last long, the smell of burnt fur not much long even for the two kats, and then they were back to tracking by footprints.

"Do we know what this thing is?" Chance asked Carter as Taggart and Jake worked the trail.

"Besides big and mean? No," he shook his head and they fell silent again, both made uneasy by the lack of howls. It meant that their quarry was either going to ground to try to avoid detection, or had decided to hunt them.

"We're about to lose it," Chance warned Carter some time later. "River's up ahead."

"If it crosses ahead of us, we might as well just turn back, start looking for Jo," Carter told Taggart. "Not like it'll be able to tell us where she is if we _do_ catch it."

"It's never attacked people before," Taggart said worriedly. "We _have_ to capture it soon, before it decides town might be a nice to place to go."

The sound of something moving through the water up ahead greeted them, saying clearly that the tracking was about to get much, much harder.

"Damn it," Carter muttered. "Taggart... look, I understand you want to get it, but tonight I don't think we're going to be able to. _Somebody_ has to try and find Jo; if she's hurt, we need to find her ASAP. We'll put the word out in the morning, let people know that there's something in the woods they have to watch out for."

"But ...."

"We have blood, let's at least go collect that," Carter broke into the growling and cursing of the two hunters. "Taggart, you and Henry can analyze it, see if we can come up with anything useful on this creature. Maybe we can at least come out next time with something that can take it down in one shot."

"He's got a point," Jake sighed. "If a heavy blaster rifle didn't even phase it, we have got one hell of a problem."

"All right," Taggart acquiesced, honestly more worried about Jo than the Sheriff was. "We'll go back, get the blood, and look for Jo... once we find her, we can start looking again."

"Right," Carter nodded as the group turned around and began to backtrack through the woods.

"Just how much large animal life is around here?" Jake asked Taggart.

"How large?" he asked.

"Jo's size or larger. The TurboKat has infrared scanners and a fairly good ID program. With an idea of what to look for, I can probably find her from the air. Might be able to find that critter too."

"A lot. Deer, elk, bear and cougar are the main ones at this elevation. The farms have cattle, horses, llama, ostrich, and a smattering of others," Taggart explained. "Deer would be 95 percent of when you run across near her size off the farms."

"Might take a bit, but I can teach the scanner to differentiate her from that. Is there a temperature difference between a human and deer?"

"Yes, most animals have a higher body temperature," Taggart nodded. "You are also looking for a fairly small large mammal and the only biped that size. What we're hunting, almost nothing is that big around here. A large elk, but nothing built like she is."

"Nothing natural at least," Carter added.

"That wolf isn't either," Taggart pointed out.

"If you want the two of us to head back then, we can take the Turbokat out and try to find 'em both," Chance nodded slightly.

"That would be welcome," Taggart accepted quickly.

"We'll try and keep her as quiet as we can," Chance promised as they got back to the truck, and Carter collected a couple blood samples from the side of the truck.

"Thanks," the Sheriff said gratefully. "You've got it tuned to our frequency, so we can hear when you've found something?"

"Yeah," Jake nodded. "If we spot the big one, we should be able to put it down with a few cement slugs. It's not going to shrug _that_ off."

"No kidding," Chance nodded seriously and looked up as the TurboKat came in and landed in the road.

The two kats climbed in, making sure they had the radio set up right.

"We'll be in contact soon," Chance promised as the cockpit closed and they took off.

"And I'll get one of these samples to Henry and meet you back by Jo's place," Carter told Taggart. "Ah... want me to bring you a coat or something?"

"I've got clothes there," he shook his head as the pair split up.

* * *

Jake groaned and stretched upwards as Chance closed the door to their house after a long and utterly fruitless hunt by air. "I need a bath, badly, and we still have something to go over."

"You don't need to make up your mind about collars right away, Jake," Chance reassured him with a light kiss. "But yeah, we _both_ need a bath. How that thing managed to get away from our scanners, I have _no_ idea."

"You don't want me to answer that," Jake smirked at his partner as they headed for the bathroom. "But what I wanted to talk about is Marie."

"What about her?" Chance asked curiously, pulling his shirt off while Jake turned the water on.

"Something in her scent is messing with me," he said simply and shrugged his clothing off while the large tub filled. "I've encountered it a couple times before, but the upshot is that I don't really shut up, even when I should."

"Well... it's not like we've got anything to hide from her, is it?" Chance asked curiously, moving up to give Jake a hug. "She already knows what we are, they know about SWAT...."

"Just warning you," Jake tilted his head to nuzzle him. "She'll probably learn a few odd things you wouldn't expect her to."

"Mmm ... I'll keep it in mind," Chance smiled. "Any idea what it is about her?"

"It's scent-based and very rare, but beyond that I really don't know," Jake admitted and tested the water with his toe.

"Hmm. Well, I wouldn't worry too much," Chance said easily, following Jake into the tub. "She _did_ smell a little odd, for a human. That it, maybe?"

"Probably," he groaned as the hot water began to sink into his muscles. "I was something I paid more attention to back in MegaKat City, but even there it's been years and I recognized it before we started talking and got out of there. It's just something about a few people that makes keeping my mouth shut hard."

"Mmm ... well, I think it'll be fine," Chance smiled. "Think she likes you though," he chuckled. "She was _definitely_ looking."

That raised an eyebrow as Jake leaned over to kiss him soundly. "I'll keep that in mind," he purred softly and ran his hands down Chance's broad chest. "But I think we were interrupted by the wolf in the middle of something much more interesting than talking about some female."

"Mmm... I _do_ seem to remember something about a certain tom about ready to beg for me inside him, yeah," Chance purred, kissing Jake back and pulled Jake into his lap, the two of them quickly finding their minds on other things as the sun rose outside.

* * *

Taggart was exhausted, physically and emotionally, when he finally came back to Jo's house. Not a sign of her anywhere, or of the wolf. The two kats had given up, Carter was going to tell everybody to watch out... and he was coming back, to change and get his truck before going to look for her again.

A low sound from inside the house drew his attention there and instantly shoved his exhaustion to the back of his mind as he moved inside as stealthily as he could.

"Jo!" he gasped out in relief, shock and bewilderment as he saw her in her bed, struggling to drag herself awake. She had mud, leaves and blood all over her, but must noticeably in three long lines of red across her nose and cheek.

He hurried into her room, getting a cloth for her to clean up with once she was a bit more awake, hurrying back as she was just starting to recognize conscious thought. The cuts and marks worried him, but he could worry about those once she was aware of what was going on and not as likely to shoot him on reflex.

"Jim?" she mumbled as she looked up, confusion the ruling expression on her face. "What happened?"

"I was hoping you could tell me," he admitted. "Hold still, looks like you might be hurt. Need to make sure this blood isn't yours...."

She nodded and sat up, her entire body aching and let him tend to her.

He wasn't surprised that she was naked, really. She had been when they'd fallen asleep ... it was logical enough that she might have just pulled off the rest of her clothes before getting back into bed. But it didn't take long before that changed.

His breath caught as he cleaned the dirt and blood from her chest, spotting dead, singed flesh beneath it.

"Jo... what's going on?" He asked her softly, looking up into her eyes, concern for her in his eyes.

She looked at him, a bit of fear dancing in the back of her eyes before she controlled it. "I don't know," she admitted quietly. "I don't remember anything after we fell asleep."

"Somebody screamed and the window was broken again when I woke up," he explained. "Broken outwards. The wolf was out again, and you were nowhere to be seen. She came across Chance and Jake in their truck while I was tracking her; Chance got 'er with his claws, and Jake hit her with a blaster rifle... I think that's where these came from," he said, indicating the long streaks of blood on her face, and the dead flesh on her chest that sloughed off with a light cleaning. "Are you _sure_ you don't know anything about what's happening?" He asked her softly.

She looked down, then towards the shattered window. "I don't remember anything," she repeated softly.

"But you know what's going on," he pressed.

She glanced up at him, her expression openly regretful. "I think so," she nodded. "And that's more than I should say."

"If you can tell me who to ask who _can_ talk about it, that's all the more I'll ask for," he said seriously. He understood classified issues around here - you couldn't throw a rock in Eureka without hitting one.

Though something like this that would be classified beyond his clearance would have been pretty big.

"Stark is it, as far as I know," she told him seriously. "Others know, but he's the only one that can authorize you to be told."

"I'll talk to him then," Taggart said simply. "You should stay home today," he added, giving her a light kiss on the forehead. "If you feel half as bad as you look like you do. Carter was helping me look for you, he'd believe it if one of us said you'd gotten hurt going after the wolf and couldn't come in."

"A hot shower will fix most of what's wrong," she reached up and pulled his shoulders down to where she could kiss him. "So will something else."

"Mmm ... you should still call in, so he doesn't worry about you too much," Taggart chuckled, kissing her gently.

She hesitated, then looked at him and surrendered, just for now, to the hormonal insanity still surging through her body. "I will if you will."

"Promise," he nodded easily. He'd been planning on spending the day in anyways, to be honest. It wasn't as if anyone actualy checked on his hours as long as he got his projects done.

Jo nodded and lay back across her bed, her naked body an openly wanton, if messy, display for her as she reached for her phone and dialed.

"Sheriff ... yes, I'm going to be okay. I just got seriously banged up." She paused as he said something. "All right. I ..." she paused again. "I'll be fine, Sheriff. Really. I'm just going to rest for a while. I'll come in when the painkillers kick in well enough." She paused again as he talked. "I will, Sheriff, bye."

She put her phone back on the nightstand and looked down her body at the man standing just beyond it. "You have far too many clothes on."

"You and Carter have _wildly_ different opinions about that," Taggart chuckled as he stripped down, climbing into bed with her and drawing her close to him, finally relaxing after the night's constant state of alert. He finally had some answers to a puzzle that had plagued him for years as well. Even with nothing really said, he knew how she had eluded him, and a good guess on why the visits were so sporadic.

"He's not your lover," she pointed out and kissed him hard, giving in to the drives she usually kept such tight control over.

'Thank the heavens above for that,' Taggart thought silently, kissing her back, not at all surprised as she rolled on top of him, taking control of the situation. It was something he got a thrill out of, privately, but right now he couldn't completely relax into his arousal. He could see, even smell, how close the wolf was to the surface. Still, as long as she was hungry for sex and not flesh, he'd indulge her. It wasn't as if his body was objecting to her touch. 

He groaned as she sank down, taking his cock deep into her body before she leaned forward and caught his hands, entwining their fingers as she began to undulate, her surrender to her base drives all but complete.

He started thrusting up into her, enjoying the display of her gorgeous body, still streaked with reminders of her adventures of the night before. Even more than the physical pleasure, he moaned softly when it sank in how much she must trust him to let go like this with him. It brought an erotic edge to things he'd never expected.

* * *

"In so early after last night?" Marie asked Jake when she came up to him with his head buried in the Harrier jet's fuselage.

"I got enough sleep," he chuckled and slid out. "Lunch time already?"

"Yes," she grinned at him, her eyes roaming his body rather openly. "I thought we could eat in my office, talk, maybe get some of the exam out of the way afterwards."

"Sounds good to me," he nearly purred as her scent hit his brain. Like the previous day, he didn't back away; this time he could indulge himself the way he had always wanted to. "You smell very good."

"Thank you," she chuckled. "I think, at least. Is that a usual thing for kats to notice?" She asked curiously.

"More often than humans seem to," he nodded and fell in next to her as they headed out of the hanger-workshop. "I know I have a sharper sense of smell than anyone else here."

"Not surprised," she nodded. "Probably much better hearing too?" She guessed. "I don't suppose you could tell me what it is about my scent that stands out the most?"

"From what Allison said, significantly better," he nodded. "You smell like home. A little feline, but most just something that reminds me of home and good times."

"Well, that's unexpected, but not bad," she mused. "How are the scanners holding up for you and Chance?" She asked, switching topics somewhat abruptly.

"Pretty well, as far as I can tell. They haven't come off or anything, and they survived last night," he chuckled.

"M'kay," she smiled. "The data looked pretty good this morning, though there _were_ a few unexpected spikes last night. The excitement that brought the TurboKat out?" She guessed.

"Likely," he nodded. "Having a giant wolf look over the side of the truck at you tends to cause a bit of excitement," he chuckled.

"Whoa... yeah, that'd do it," she nodded, not mentioning the guesses she had about what they'd been up to before and after the 'excitement' he'd mentioned. After all, some things just weren't meant for that sort of conversation. "At any rate, no surprise I'm sure but you seem to be in good health so far. So that's out of the way, at least ... what's the lifespan for kats?" She asked him curiously.

"Assuming I've done the conversion math correctly, about two hundred and five Earth years, for an average. It's a hundred and twenty on Aristal. At least for those who die of old age."

"Wow," she blinked. "So that makes you about... fifty or sixty, locally?"

"A few days shy of sixty five," he nodded, still a little shocked by the idea.

"Birthday coming up, or you're just that precise with your math?" She asked him, glancing over curiously as they reached the door to her office.

"Between the chronometers on the TurboKat and other gear, and the atomic clocks and computers here, I got it down to the second," he grinned at her.

"Aww, and here I was hoping we'd have an excuse for a birthday party," she winked. "Or is that not something you do back on Aristal?"

"It is, though Chance and I rarely did," he said as they walked into her private office. "It's not something Enforcers liked to think about. Each one meant our chance of dieing on duty had just jumped up a lot."

"Ouch," she winced. "Want that sort of thing to keep quiet around here then? Or don't mind so much, since it's safer around here?"

"After outliving the line by more than ten years now, it's kind of a moot point," Jake shrugged and sat down at her desk where two take out trays were. "We've been on borrowed time so long it hardly matters."

"It doesn't have to be like that anymore," she pointed out gently as they both opened up their lunches. "So, what sort of things did you two do when you weren't risking your necks for the city?"

"We try to make a living fixing cars," he shrugged. "And spend what we have to on keeping the gear and us in good enough shape that we see tomorrow. Chance finds the time to play video games and date, sometimes we watch TV. There really isn't much free time to speak of."

"Mmm ... so, what did you do _before_ life got turned upside down?" Marie asked. "I'm sure you had _some_ hobbies," she smiled.

"Mine was always designing things, especially jets. School took up a lot of my time, then feeling sorry for myself. Once I got into the Enforcers it was pretty much no free time. It just got worse when we were kicked out." Jake explained as he dug into the spicy noodle and meat creation on offer. "Though Chance keeps telling me it's because I don't want any free time, cause he manages just fine," he chuckled.

"Well, your idea of down time's a bit different from his too, from the sound of it," she chuckled. "Not that weird. Is there anything you've wanted to do, but haven't had the time to try?"

"Sometimes," he admitted between bites. "It's not the kind of wish list that really happens, though. Mostly unfinished business and old dreams, not things that really matter anymore. It's been a long time since I gave anything but getting to tomorrow much thought."

"Well, if you _do_ decide to stick around, you might want to give it a little thought," she smiled. "Plenty of things to do around here, and time to do it in when you're between projects."

"I'm sure Chance will figure them out and drag me along for my own good," he chuckled softly. "He always does."

"Good for him," Marie grinned. "Maybe I'll take a page from his book some time," she winked. "Might be a few things I know of that are more your speed than what he'll find around Eureka."

"Probably," he chuckled. "Though he does a pretty good job, it's nice to have folks around that don't glaze over when I start to talk about my day."

"I think that's pretty much a universal truth around here," she smiled. "Heck, you even get it around the high school here sometimes," she chuckled, working on her own lunch, a light soup and sandwich. "You like the theater at all?"

"Movie or live?" he asked on reflex.

"Either," she chuckled. "Though they're both pretty different from what most people think of, around here."

"Given what I've seen so far, I believe it," Jake chuckled. "Is there usually much of a selection, or just the top sellers?"

"Pretty good, though the top sellers are always around here," she said easily. "We get a slightly better selection of sci-fi and monster flicks than most places. For some strange reason, they usually do pretty well here," she winked.

"That'll make Chance happy," he grinned at her. "The monster flicks at least. I like most everything."

"As long as he's along," Marie giggled. "For an old married couple, you are _so_ smitten."

"Well, yeah," he ducked his head and blushed a bit. Marie giggled again; it was a cute look for him.

"So, think maybe some time I could drag you out, see what you think of some of the local flicks?" She asked him. "Just friends," she offered, not wanting to seem too forward.

"Sure," he smiled, honestly more than willing for any excuse to spend time with her and the scent that made him feel so good. "What kind of movies do you like?"

"I'm pretty much all over the board," she chuckled. "As long as it's got a plot that isn't _totally_ ridiculous or just an excuse for special effects or people to spend the movie mooning after somebody. They're running the Star Wars series down at the theater lately; I was thinking you might like to start there. Generally considered the best science-fantasy movies ever," she explained.

"Certainly sounds like something I should see," Jake grinned at her. "Though after my life, the definition of ridiculous is radically different from most."

"Trust me, they've managed it sometimes," she said, rolling her eyes a bit. "I think my personal favorite for the 'what were they thinking' file is a movie that's just eight hours of a building in New York."

"Okay ... and what happened?" Jake asked, his mind going back to a couple different times when that could have made a hell of a show.

"Nothing," she said, realizing in a moment that he couldn't believe she was serious. "Well, okay, a light blinked every twenty minutes or so and about five times the director walked in front of the camera. Look up Empire, by Andy Warhol, 1964, some time. The guy was a pioneer of the mentality that an artistic movie had to be something that couldn't be stomached by mortal men and women," she shuddered. "The scariest thing is that places still screen it sometimes, for some insane reason."

"Okay ... that qualifies as weird," he shook his head. "Definitely not my cup of tea."

"Agreed, and I'd _never_ subject you to that," she chuckled, finishing her lunch. "So, want to go through a few of the tests before you get back to work?"

"Sure, why not," he nodded and stood. "What first?"

"Something nice and simple," she chuckled. "We'll start with reflex time, eyesight, move on from there."

* * *

"So, Taggart, what brings you here?" Stark asked as the door shut behind the tall man and he turned his chair around to face him.

"Jo, and a project she can't talk to me about," Taggart said, cutting straight to the point. "Something involving wolves, and I suspect people turning into them."

"And this concerns me, why?" Stark leveled his gaze at him.

"Because whatever it is, it's not confined to the lab anymore... and I'd bet my job it was meant to stay there, at least on paper," Taggart said seriously. "You want me to start with what I know, or with what I'm damned sure I've got right, for reasons I should know about this?"

"You had better, given the clearance levels above yours where animals are concerned is next to nil," Stark pointed out even as he picked up a tablet and began the search for projects involving wolves that Taggart wasn't involved in.

There weren't very many of them.

"For starters, whatever it is, the creature's obviously not a normal wolf, it's a predator, and while it hasn't gone after people yet, it might. I suspect that, somehow, somebody here created a shapeshifter... werewolf, for lack of a better word. And unless Jo's faking amnesia _very_ well, she doesn't know what happens when she's in another form."

And that narrowed it down to one. Josephina Lupo had only been the subject of one experiment, and it was a doozy, even by Eureka standards.

"Has she killed anyone yet?" Stark looked up, his expression neutral.

"No, thank God," Taggart said, rolling his eyes a bit. "I thought I should find out what's going on _before_ that happened. She could have gotten herself killed last night."

"You have the security clearance to hear about the project," Stark told him. "What we do not have is the conditions under which either of us has a need to know about it."

"Hold on," Taggart said, somewhat incredulously. "You're telling me that _you_ don't know about this project, or what's going on with it, either?"

"No," he put the tablet down on his desk. "It happened before my first tenure here. Right now, you know as much as I do, possibly more."

"And you can't tell me _anything_ about it?" Taggart asked. It was believable enough... if it had happened _right_ after Jo had arrived in Eureka.

Or right _before_ she had.

"Can you at least find, or tell me, anything about how to _keep_ her from shifting without controlling it?" He asked again. "If it'll take somebody dying before I 'need to know' what happened... I don't want to need to know."

"That makes two of us, and if she can't now, then there is no way," Stark told him. "Projects like this don't leave things running around loose in anything less than the best control possible. If she has not killed yet, she is unlikely to. She would have been running loose for, what, nearly a decade now, with no kills?"

"For three nights in a row, every four months or so," Taggart acknowledged, sounding distinctly less than happy with the situation. "Cross your fingers, Stark. Last night was the first time I know of that she's run into other people, and it nearly ended up going very badly."

"You might want to consider locking her away for her own safety on those nights then," Stark advised him. "Because if previous projects are any indication, all we are going to get out of the file will be how to kill her and keep her dead."

"I'll look into it," Taggart muttered. "I'll see you around, Stark. Hopefully not about this again."

"Agreed," Stark nodded and turned his attention back to critical business he could do something about as Taggart left to try and figure out just how he'd keep Jo from going out again in the night.


	4. Circumstance Be Damned

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jake makes an unwelcome discovery, Marie sees something she can barely stand, she and Jake grow closer and Jo has a secret admirer with a warped scene of courtship gifts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written with Karl Wolfemann

"What happened?" Chance asked after just a glance at his partner walking in the door. After nearly two weeks in Eureka, he was looking downright ragged, and the tabby knew it wasn't from working on the Harrier or the romantic interest Jake was trying to pretend wasn't there while still being friends with her.

"Nothing," Jake muttered darkly. "Absolutely nothing," he dropped onto the couch with a groan of frustration. "Whatever brought us here took more than just power and the jet to work."

"PastMaster's magic," Chance muttered. "So... can't get us back any time soon?"

"Not without several significant breakthroughs in fields I've barely looked at," Jake admitted as he let his head fall back to look at his partner upside down. "I'm sorry, it's going to be a while unless we get a miracle."

"Wouldn't be the first one we've gotten," Chance pointed out. "Who knows... maybe Pasty will drop his pocket watch, some stray dog will step on it, and drop into the middle of town along with it," he joked, giving Jake a kiss, becoming more subdued. "So, really, the questions just changed. A lot."

"Yeah," he sighed and reached up to scritch Chance's jaw affectionately. "Though as far as places to be to have that miracle happen, we're there. Until then, make nice with Stark?"

"If he screws you, even once, we're out of here," Chance muttered quietly, then almost managed to keep a straight face when he realized just what definition of 'screw' Jake thought of first. "Get your mind out of the gutter," he tried to scold him.

"That was _so_ not a visual I needed today," Jake shook his head, though he was chuckling. "Seriously, he's got quite a job to top Aerospace, MASA and Feral. We've been stuck _much_ worse places."

"Yeah, but he doesn't need to _top_ them to be a problem," Chance pointed out, giving him a hug. "You okay with working with Stark and the other folks there?"

"Yes," Jake snuggled in close against his broad chest. "They've been good so far. I think I can keep it that way. Stark might not be all that friendly, but I think I understand him enough to control him."

"Just don't let _him_ hear that," Chance chuckled. "He probably thinks about the same thing about you. So... you're working R &D, I'm test piloting?"

"And test driving and likely quickly inducted into the R&R department," Jake winked at him. "You do it quite well, after all. And as long as Stark gives me what I want, I don't care what he thinks."

"Mmm ... and what is it you want?" Chance asked him with a nuzzle.

"From Stark, or right now?" Jake purred softly.

"Mmm ... from Stark," Chance chuckled. "If I can't guess what you want right now, then I'm slipping," he winked, kissing Jake deeply and starting to work his shirt off.

"Access to equipment, research ... and keeping my adrenaline junky of a partner happy," he grinned and helped get them stripped.

"Mmm ... and for now, that adrenaline junky pinning you to the bed?" Chance grinned back, picking Jake up.

"Or anywhere else he feels like it," Jake slid his arms around the tabby's neck and claimed a heated kiss on the way to their bedroom.

* * *

Jack Carter knew it was going to be a bad day. He just did. He'd had a hard time getting to sleep the night before, and slept in because of it... that wasn't the real problem though.

S.A.R.A.H. had just told him that Zoe was already leaving for school, which meant he was going to be late, and Jo had already stopped cutting him a little slack because of her own problems the week before. But that wasn't the real problem either.

He would have _liked_ to attribute his sense that it was going to be a bad day to a cop's intuition, or even better, to the pizza he'd had before finally getting to sleep the night before giving him a touch of indigestion. But he knew he couldn't.

No. What was giving him the undeniable, inevitable sense that Something Was Going to Go Terribly Wrong wasn't any of those things.

It was the fact that the door had just opened again, and that Zoe was screaming for him.

He grabbed his pants and started to pull them on as she hurried back down the stairs and into the house.

"Zoe, what's wrong?" He asked, trying to get his brain into gear as he went to intercept her in the living room.

"There's a _body_ out there," she screeched, the honest state of hysteria rare enough to get her father's attention even more than her words. "Mangled, like a train wreck or something."

"A body?" He asked incredulously. "You've gotta be kidding... S.A.R.A.H.!" He called out.

"Yes, Sheriff Ca-"

"Is there a body outside?!?"

"Yes, Sheriff Carter," the house replied calmly. "It was outside of the perimeter, so I didn't think you would want to be disturbed."

"I'm disturbed," he said irritably, rushing up the stairs to see what was outside.

Zoe had summarized it fairly well, but then this was not the first body she'd seen, just the most damaged that he knew about.

"That's no train wreck," he murmured to himself as he knelt and examined the wounds, though he could definitely tell where the idea came from.

He reached for his phone and made a conference call to Lupo and Taggart, just assuming they'd rather both be called instead of figuring they were together.

"Lupo," his deputy said, professional and crisp as ever. He _really_ hoped she wasn't in yet.

"Taggart," the scientist answered a moment later, sounding a little more groggy.

Well, apparently they _weren't_ together. Not now, at least.

"I've got a body in front of my place," he told them both. "Looks like some sort of animal attack," he added.

There was a moment of dead silence, then Taggart spoke. "A big animal?"

"I'll be out there in a minute, Sheriff," Jo said at nearly the same moment.

"Thanks, Jo," he said. "And yeah ... bear, maybe, but it might be our wolf too. Whatever it is, it tore this guy up bad. Zoe found the body, told me, I'll be waiting for the two of you."

"I'll be right there, Sheriff," Taggart said before hanging up and leaving Carter to deal with the initial investigation until backup arrived.

"Dad?" Zoe called shakily from the entrance.

"Stay inside, Zoe," he called back to her. "Tell S.A.R.A.H. to call you in for today."

"Who is it?" she asked, her curiosity overcoming her wish to not think about it for now.

"Nobody I know ... and too old to be somebody you do," he said, seriously grateful for that, at least. "Probably some hiker," he said, noticing a broken walking stick and the remains of some sturdy hiking boots nearby. "Get inside, Zoe. You don't need to see any more of this."

"Yes, Dad," she murmured and disappeared underground as two vehicles drove up.

He made a mental note to give Beverly a call after this. Good chance Zoe'd be needing to talk.

"Well, I'd say we're even now, Sheriff," Taggart quipped as he climbed out of his truck carefully.

"I _did_ get some pants on, at least," Carter said dryly. "What do you think? Animal?"

"I just got here," Taggart pointed out, dropping to the ground and carefully making his way over, eyes alert for tracks. "Definitely canine," he said after a quick examination of the body. "A fairly large canine," he looked up at Carter with worry open on his face.

"Not ..." he looked rather sick.

"Not the wolf," he shook his head slightly. "At least not the giant one."

"Okay, what are you two so wound up about?" Jo demanded as she turned around from a set of tracks in the soft earth.

"Some sort of large canine, probably well over a hundred pounds, did this," Taggart said simply. "Rather limits the options around here."

"Yes it does," she murmured, her manner almost instantly subdued.

"Okay ...." Carter looked between the two of them. "Mind letting me in on this one?"

"It's ... classified, sir, if it's what we think it is," Jo explained, though she was looking more rattled by the minute.

"It wasn't the big one," Taggart said, shaking his head. "Can't have been. Feet are wrong; this thing was big, but it wasn't that one. Not even the same breed ... this was just a big freakin' dog, or wolf, of some sort. Nearly two hundred pounds. Nobody around here who'd have one this big though, not that I know of."

"Which still goes into the created range, at least around here," Jo pointed out as she got control of herself again. "Someone's escaped project."

"It's not one of mine," Taggart assured them. "The Moreaus are working with felines right now, as far as I know."

"Which isn't everything," Jo told him with a look that tried to warn him that she knew more than she could say, again.

"I'm sure it isn't," Taggart nodded slightly. "Whatever this is though, it's not _that_ hungry. Took the liver... kidneys... brain... that's all," he explained. "So it might be being taken care of by somebody yet ... you might want to poke around town," he offered. "I'll look around the projects I've heard about from Global lately, see if I might've missed something."

"You know, there's another possibility," Carter pointed out.

"Yeah?" Taggart asked, looking at him with distinct interest.

"Around here, might just be a random stray that got into something it shouldn't have. Big, random mutant."

"Think I'd have heard about that before," Taggart said, though he was considering it. "Too bad there's no way to talk to Lojack ... he might have a clue or two."

"Those two aliens might," Carter said. "They are all very smart animals ... maybe there's a language link there. Jo, why don't you ask them while Taggart and I dig around the paperwork."

"Sure," Jo nodded slightly, pulling out an evidence bag for a bit of fur she'd spotted. "Might tell us a breed to look for, at least," she explained, giving the bag to Taggart with a serious expression.

"Right," he nodded.

"Have you called Henry yet?" Jo looked at Carter.

"Um, no," he pulled out his phone and rang him. "I'll be here when he gets here," he offered. "You should probably try to catch the kats before they're busy today. Jake won't come up for air until tonight, from what I've heard, if he's already working.... Yeah, Henry? We've got a body out by my place.... Ha ha, very funny," he deadpanned. "Looks like some hiker got caught by a big dog, wolf, something like that... yeah, I know that's pretty weird around here, but Taggart called it. Good, I'll see you out here soon."

"Will do," Jo nodded and returned to her vehicle to see if it was early enough for the one that didn't sleep or late enough for the other one to be conscious enough to answer the door.

* * *

"Ah, there you are," Stark glanced at the clock as he turned his chair around to face the apparently human pair that came into his office. Barely on time, and he was sure from the look of the big one that 9am was still far too early in his opinion. "How are you liking Eureka so far?"

"Besides the early wake-up calls?" Chance asked, trying not to be _too_ irritable.

"It's pretty good," Jake said quickly, glancing at Chance with an inward sigh. He'd told Chance to get to bed early, but... well, okay, maybe it hadn't been _entirely_ the tabby's fault they'd stayed up late, but he _had_ warned him. "Good to have some other people around who know what I'm talking about," he admitted.

"That I can understand very well," Stark nodded with some honest empathy. "True brilliance can be a curse at times. You are getting along fairly well then? No trouble with dietary issues, living conditions, the holo-belts?"

"Compared to what we were used to, this place is great," Jake said easily.

"Takes a little used to, coming from a big city though," Chance said with a slight shrug. He knew that Jake _wanted_ this, and that meant he did too. He just didn't want to make it clear to Stark how true that was. "Been having a little trouble figuring out how to get a pilot's license though, at least beyond props."

"I saw a report that you had cleared up to test pilot," Stark glanced down at his desktop display and manipulated the touch screen a bit, more than a little concerned by this. A pilot that didn't think he was licensed was a major issue, even if it was easily solved. "Yes, there you are. You're cleared to drive, fly, steer or sail anything existing or planned, plus the test pilot certification which allows you to handle any craft that is not production."

"Cool," Chance murmured, clearly impressed. Or, at least, he would be if it turned out to be true. He did remember a bunch of tests and a few dozen hours on various flight simulators, so maybe it really was for something. "Is it good on the outside?"

"Of course," Stark nodded. "We have the highest standards in the world. You can get a job anywhere, flying anything, with a reference from Global Dynamics."

"Hey, you're not going to regret it either," Chance promised him. "I'm up to whatever standards you've got."

"I was sure of that after reviewing the footage of your arrival and what specs I have on the TurboKat," he let his voice show some of the respect he held for both of them. "You would have to be in the top half a percent just to handle that jet."

"True enough," Jake nodded. "It was built to perform best for him."

"Wouldn't really be something that could be mass-produced then," Stark mused. "Damn shame, she's a Hell of a jet."

"That she is," Chance agreed.

"Not the current design at least," Jake acknowledged. "Production capabilities was about my last consideration when I built her."

"So, have you had any more luck in figuring out what brought you here?" Stark asked them both, mostly Jake, not missing the significant look that passed between them.

"Some," Jake nodded. "It was the dimensional radar interacting with a large amount of unusual energy. It's going to take some more work to figure out the exact frequency of energy need to recreate the portal that brought us here and how to generate a sufficient amount to recreate the portal."

"So you're going to be here for a while yet, I imagine," Stark nodded. "Well, from what I've heard from those overlooking the Harrier project, I have to admit we're not really upset to hear that. You do excellent work, according to all of them."

Despite keeping good control over himself, Jake's eyes still lit up at the praise; the first he'd heard from an actual employer. It left him hungry for more.

"Thank you," he nodded. "It should be ready for a test flight next week."

"Something you'd like your partner to test?" Stark asked evenly. He could go either way, but if Jake was willing to risk Chance's life on it, the fix had happened.

"He's the best here," Jake said simply. "There is no way to fix the Harrier that will have it be a truly stable VTOL craft. I could create one from it, but not without completely scrapping it and starting over. What you'll get is a band-aid, even if it's a good one. A production-grade VTOL fighter, something close to the TurboKat, will take me at least six months. I still have the plans in my head, but they weren't created with Earth technology or methods in mind."

"What about your less-than-lethal weapon systems, and the Glovatrix, I believe you call it?" Stark prompted him, pleased with an employee that was so up front and honest. They were rare.

"The Glovatrix could take a couple years, but the vehicle based less-than-lethal systems ... I could have some of those ready for production models in a couple weeks."

"Well, would you be willing to start with those, and the modifications to the Harrier, look at the possibilities of a production-model fighter later on?" Stark asked him.

"Sure," Jake agreed easily. "Some convert quite easily."

"Well, in that case, I'd like to offer you a position with Global Dynamics," Stark said with a welcoming smile. "Both of you, of course," he said, with a nod towards Chance. "In design, and test piloting... I'm sure you can sort out who'd be in which field," he chuckled.

The pair glanced at each other, a final check, he was sure, on a decision they had come to shortly after Jake had realized they would be a while getting home, if they ever did.

"Accepted," Jake nodded first.

"Welcome to Global," Stark said, standing and reaching across the table to shake both their hands before they started on the paperwork necessary to get them going.

* * *

"Come on Jake, you _made_ it," Chance pushed a second beer into his partner's hand in the crowded dance club that was much more like what they were used to than most of Eureka. "This is what you've always wanted."

"It's still sinking in," Jake smiled and accepted it. "Hard to believe landing on an alien world is what it took to get us what we really want."

"Hey, I'd have said the same about getting canned and grounded to find a mate," Chance smiled, taking a drink from his own mug. "Hard to believe things seem to happen to us pretty often," he winked.

"We have to loose everything we think we care about to get something we want even more," he purred softly and leaned up against his mate before nuzzling a kiss out of him. "Maybe ... tomorrow we'll go shopping?"

"Mmm ... what for?" Chance asked curiously, kissing him back.

"Umm, collars?" Jake murmured, suddenly uncertain it was still welcome.

"Of _course_ , Jake," Chance grinned, kissing him again, more deeply. "Mmm ... hadn't thought about that for a while," he admitted sheepishly.

"A lot happened that night," he squeezed his partner's hand. "Dance?"

"Gladly," Chance purred, following Jake out onto the dance floor and quickly taking the lead. He wasn't the least bit oblivious to the attention they had from one corner. A couple familiar faces, but most importantly, Marie was one of them.

He breathed in Jake's scent, tasted the arousal there, felt it against his body as they danced. More than any of it though, what was the most intoxicating to Chance, was seeing his partner relaxed and enjoying himself in public. If he could steal a few minutes away, he could even give Marie a few pointers on Jake's peculiarities. Maybe even get them to dance. They were a good couple, after all, and no matter what he said, Jake did like her.

It certainly wouldn't hurt to get him involved with a fem again either.

The dance came to a gradual stop, and Chance gave Jake a light kiss on the cheek.

"Think you're up for something a little stronger to drink?" He asked him with a bit of a grin.

"Why not," he chuckled and they moved off the dance floor.

"Wait for me here then," Chance chuckled. "I'll surprise you," he winked, heading off towards the bar where he could see Marie chatting with a friend.

He ordered an atomic and a long island iced tea, then waited for a lull in the conversation next to him.

"Dr. Moreau?" He asked Marie, catching her attention.

"Marie in here, but yeah," she smiled, her friend giving Chance an interested look as she backed out of the conversation. "Oh, Chance! Didn't see you on my way in. Is Jake here too?" She asked curiously.

"Right over there," he nodded towards his partner. "You are interested in him?"

"Well... yeah," she admitted, blushing a bit. "I'm not going to get between you two though," she reassured him. "I know you're mates, so I've been trying to keep that in mind."

"Mates?" her friend laughed. "Girl, you have been spending _way_ too much time with your lab animals."

"Oh, hush Cindy, that was Jake's word for it," Marie scolded over her shoulder with a laugh.

"We're not exclusive," Chance smiled at her. "Honestly, a girlfriend would do him some good, as long as you don't mind sharing him either."

"That apply to both of you?" Cindy asked Chance with interest.

"Down, girl," Marie chuckled. "You don't mind then?" She asked Chance, _much_ more interested now that she knew she wasn't about to get the 'back off, he's mine' talk.

"Yes, it does," Chance grinned at Cindy, openly checking her out now. "And no, I don't mind," he turned his attention back to Marie. "I've even got some tips for you, if you want them."

"Sure," Marie grinned. "I don't think he's really used to flirting, at least not from around here," she admitted.

"He's not used to it anywhere," Chance nodded. "Especially not from women. He's still in denial that you are flirting with him," he chuckled a bit. "The two biggest tips I can give you is to be bold, and don't expect to get in his bed very fast. He's seriously not into casual sex. You'll probably have to at least kiss him before it sinks in that you're interested. Don't be afraid to go further than you think might be welcome. He _will_ let you know when an advance is unwelcome, and he won't hold it against you. He is interested in you, even if he hasn't quite figured it out yet."

"Well, that's good to know," she smiled.

"He's _definitely_ going to fit in around here pretty well," Cindy chuckled, shaking her head.

"Just because we're smart, doesn't mean we're always observant," Marie shrugged. "So swiping him for a dance or two won't be something you'd mind, and would be a good idea?" She asked Chance, going over what he'd already told her.

"I was going to suggest it," he grinned at her. "But right now I better get back to him before he comes over to find out if I'm getting picked up for the night."

"Mmm ... I'll wait for that until after Marie's working him," Cindy winked as Chance took their drinks and headed off... honestly a little afraid of the atomic he'd ordered as he realized that it wasn't just green, but was glowing faintly.

"Here you go," he told Jake, giving him his large glass filled with dark, layered liquors. "Drink slowly," he suggested with a chuckle, taking a long, slightly leery look at his own before testing it, and deciding that it was just something they were doing for show around here.

"So am I competing for attention tonight?" Jake asked with a grin and sipped his drink, taking the time to savor the varying flavors.

"Mmm ... if you decide you don't mind, probably," Chance admitted with a grin of his own. "Red head over by the bar," he explained, nodding towards Cindy, fairly sure that Jake would notice Marie as well.

"Maybe not tonight," Jake said after a moment's thought. "Celebrating isn't nearly as fun alone."

"Very true," Chance smiled, giving him another light kiss. "And tonight's for you, buddy."

"Then let's avoid getting me too drunk to enjoy it," he chuckled and put his drink down before pulling Chance back out onto the dance floor.

"Not even _you_ are that much of a lightweight," Chance teased, though he didn't object to heading out for another dance. "Having a good time tonight?"

"So far," Jake purred softly and moved close against his partner as they began to move to the music. "You can only do so much celebrating in public after all."

"Oh, we've still got a ways to go before we get arrested," Chance smirked. "Particularly with the sheriff's only deputy across the floor," he winked.

"And having a good time too," he chuckled and watched the rather mismatched pair dance. "She dresses up quite nicely."

"Better than her boyfriend," Chance chuckled, turning his attention back towards Jake until the dance was over, and he spotted Marie working her way towards them.

"May I cut in?" The young scientist asked, looking between the two of them, mostly focusing on Jake.

"As long as I get him back tonight," Jake smiled at her and easily stepped back.

"He should be more worried about getting you back," Marie smiled, taking the smaller tom's hand, privately amused by his complete and obvious surprise at being the person she was interested in. "But don't worry, he will," she promised with a wink for Chance, who chuckled and moved off to dispose of the remains of Jake's drink and let Cindy know he was taken.

Despite the surprise, Jake settled into the music quickly, though he didn't move as close to her as he did his partner.

Marie's nose twitched as she caught the difference in his personal scent. She was still new to the idea, but she was fairly sure there was arousal, and possibly another emotion. She was sure Chance could have told what it was, but she couldn't. Not yet. That would take time and experience to learn.

What she could tell was that by the end of the first song he was nearly as close to her as he had been to Chance. Not quite as much physical contact, but he was definitely in her personal space, and she was sure he knew it.

"Surprised?" She asked him quietly with a smile as the music shifted to a slower song. Taking a hint from Chance she moved close and slid her arms around him.

She felt the hesitation, the tension ripple though his tightly muscled body. Then it passed and he followed suit, still a bit bewildered.

"Chance is the usual subject of interest," he said quietly, torn between a gut reaction that this was moving too fast and the very open desire to be even closer to her.

"Mmm ... I'm not the usual girl," she smiled, pressing against him lightly, trying to balance between pushing his comfort zone and doing something he was honestly uncomfortable with. "I've heard you're staying, for a while at least, working for Global now," she murmured, not hiding that she was happy to hear it.

"As long as we're stuck on Earth, it seems to be a good choice," he nodded, his nose close to her hair, nearly nuzzling her.

"Go ahead," she smiled slightly, pressing the short, pale, peach-fuzz like covering on her cheeks against his neck lightly. She was half surprised when a rough tongue slid across the side of her face.

"I ... there's no polite way to ask, but are you in season?" Jake's voice was low, trying to be respectful of her, but there was a determined edge to it as well.

"No," she said honestly, not really offended. Made sense they'd have a heat cycle or something. Most male mammals with a reasonably good sense of smell were noticeably affected by an estrus cycle's pheromones. It did make for an interesting question though, if he found her scent that enticing. "Not more than any other time."

He nodded, and even relaxed a bit as they danced. Only now they were close enough that she could feel his arousal every so often as they brushed up against each other. It was having an effect on her as well, one she tried to keep under control as they danced. She was definitely enjoying herself though.

"You're a pretty good dancer," she smiled.

"Thanks," he grinned a bit, a look that said he knew full well she was being nice and appreciated it all the same.

At the same time, she felt a light pressure ghost up the inside of her leg,

She glanced down a bit, startled at the feeling and wanting to make sure it wasn't somebody else trying to get fresh. When she didn't see anything, she realized it must have been his tail.

"Surprised me," she nearly purred, looking up into his hazel eyes.

"Sorry," he apologized sheepishly.

"Don't be," she smiled, making up her mind. "I'll just return the favor," she winked, reaching up on her tip-toes and kissing him on the lips, a private thrill running through her at the feel of his fur against her face. An even more intense one rushed her senses when he opened his mouth and kissed her back. His tongue was rough and completely feline as he explored her mouth, as where the small pricks of pressure she felt at the tips of his fingers against her back as his claws slid out.

She ran her tongue against his lightly, savoring the differences in how his body felt, wondering what he thought of hers, as it was just now.

She moaned softly at the loss of the contact when he pulled away slightly, a bit shocked at himself.

"Marie ... I didn't ..." Jake drew a deep breath that only managed to make things worse for him. "Damn you're hot," he rumbled low in his throat. "But too fast."

"It's okay," she said with a light smile, giving him another, briefer kiss that he nearly returned with the full heat of the first one. "You liked, though?"

"Yes," he shivered slightly.

"I don't want to go faster than you're comfortable," she told him seriously. "Want me to give you back to Chance, before one of us changes our minds about that?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "Still on for lunch tomorrow?"

"Or dinner, if you're not up in time for lunch," she agreed with a giggle, recognizing by the look on Chance's face that there was a very good chance Jake might not be getting to sleep _any_ time soon.

"I probably will be, but he won't," Jake chuckled and brushed her cheek with the back of his fingers before he turned to head for his partner.

"I wonder what would've happened if you _had_ finished your drink," Chance teased, giving Jake a hug and a long, lingering kiss.

"Probably more than's legal," he licked his partner's mouth as the kiss ended. "I'm sure you would have enjoyed watching."

"Oh yeah," Chance rumbled. "Speaking of more than's legal, want to head home while I'm still sober enough to drive, keep celebrating there?"

"You aren't going to get any complaints from me," Jake purred deeply, even as he gave Marie a lingering look that hid nothing of the desire she'd provoked in him.

"C'mon, Casanova," Chance chuckled, guiding Jake towards the door... then around the corner into the back alley between the club and the shop next door, pressing him up against the wall for a heated kiss. Jake completely melted into it even as his body was electrified by the prospect of what his partner had in mind.

"Mmm... think I'm lucky I didn't talk you into the leather getup," Chance purred, reaching down to unzip Jake's pants, taking a moment to turn him around and pin his wrists above his head with one hand before pressing against his back, fondling him shamelessly and grinding against his ass through their jeans.

Jake whimpered and pressed back, his balls tight against his body and his cock throbbing. He shivered, trembling as Chance's touch pushed him that last bit over the edge. He stiffened and bit his lip hard to keep from crying out as he came hard against his partner's hand and his own underwear.

"Mmm ... Marie _really_ got you wound up, huh?" Chance asked, reaching up to turn off Jake's holo-belt for the time being. He licked the edge of Jake's ear slowly, nipping the tip of it lightly as he kept fondling and rubbing against him, his own cock thick and hard against Jake's ass, but his self-control _far_ more intact.

"Yeah," Jake moaned and pressed back into the contact, his entire body electrified by what was happening. "Please ...."

Chance reached back, unzipping his own pants, not even pulling Jake's down except to open up the tail-flap they'd worked into them enough that he could pull his briefs out of the way. Chance bit down possessively on the scruff of Jake's neck, shifting to press his cock up into Jake's ass with a lusty growl.

He was greeted with eager compliance and the whimpers of his lover as Jake's cock hardened again under the dual pleasures that assaulted him.

"Oh, yeah," Jake trembled and tightened his ass around the intruder buried deep inside him.

Chance started thrusting, stroking him through his soaked underwear, inhaling their scents. The raw, hot arousal shot straight through him; he got off on this _almost_ as much as Jake did, the knowledge that they might get caught, the thrill of completely dominating his willingly submissive partner, the partner that was usually in charge in the air.

It was a level that neither one could maintain for long and all too soon Chance came with a roar that was muffled only by the fur and hide in his mouth as he pumped his seed deep into Jake's eager body.

He purred deeply, zipping up Jake's pants and pulling out, closing up his own pants and kissing Jake's neck, leaving him raging hard.

"That's for when we get home," he purred.

"You better believe it," Jake rumbled, a glint in his eyes that hinted at his plans for the rest of the night.

"Then let's get going," Chance grinned and climbed onto the Cyclotron. He pressed back against Jake and his hard-on as the lean tom turned his belt back on. With a roar of the engine, they pulled out, heading for home and enough privacy to really let loose.

* * *

Meanwhile, inside the club, Cindy finished her drink as Marie came back to sit down.

"Struck out, huh?" The more seductively dressed young woman giggled.

"Threw the game," Marie smirked. "Those two both wanted to go home together, I'm not gonna get in the middle of that."

"You give up too easy," Cindy chuckled. "C'mon, let's go - you're too smitten to be any more fun tonight," she teased, leading Marie on out... and pausing as she heard something around the corner. A quick glance, and she reached back to stop Marie from spoiling the show.

"You never told me those two were the aliens!" She hissed back at Marie, hustling the other scientist towards her car.

"What are you talking about?" Marie stared at her, too startled by the statement to give much resistance.

"Jake and Chance! They're around the corner ... guess you got 'im more wound up than I thought," Cindy teased lightly.

"They ... oh!" Marie gasped as her friend's words sunk in. "Look, you know the rules. I can't tell their secret."

"Well, don't worry, I won't either - now, get in the car, we've got a show to catch unless I _really_ missed my mark on Chance," Cindy grinned, climbing into the driver's seat.

"Show?" Marie looked at her oddly even as she got in the passenger side.

"C'mon, girl - you _do_ remember who you're talking to, right?" Cindy laughed as they pulled out and started back for her place. "Should have just enough time to get things set up yet."

"Cindy! We have no idea how they'll react if caught," she objected.

"Oh, c'mon," Cindy said, rolling her eyes. "The system's already set up, I just have to tap into it and get things routed to the big-screen in the living room. They're not going to catch us because there's nothing there to catch!"

"Nothing ... how the hell do you spy on someone with nothing to catch?" Marie looked at her incredulously.

"Marie, dearie, you _do_ realize that every house in Eureka is wired for remote surveillance already?" Cindy chuckled, shaking her head. "Not used often, but given how much stuff there is around here that needs watching? Only one that _isn't_ is Beverly's, and that's only because there are so many patient privilege laws and important people in the area that they don't _want_ it to be.

"Now, of course, the vast majority of it isn't in use, but I have full access to the system. Hell, I designed the latest batch of upgrades."

"They're going to kill us if they find out," Marie sunk down in the front seat a bit.

"Well, there _is_ one way to make sure they don't," Cindy pointed out easily as they drove back to her place. "Look. Let me get it set up. They might not even come back to their house tonight," she pointed out. "I'll set things up, and if you still _really_ want me to stop it, I will, okay?"

"Al-all right," Marie mumbled, in serious conflict between seeing the lovers together and how it was going to happen.

"Trust me, hon, you're gonna have a blast," Cindy smiled, making short work of the drive home, heading in and getting things set up quickly.

"Living room, or want to watch it somewhere else?" She asked easily.

"I think the living room will be fine," Marie tried not to think about where else they could watch from and found a seat in one of the deep, plush chairs that Cindy had around her entertainment center.

"Ah, c'mon, Marie, I don't use this very often," Cindy reassured her, typing a few things out, the big-screen TV in the front room turning on and showing a view of the front room, just as Jake and Chance were coming in their front door. Between kissing and groping, they both managed to turn off their holo-belts to reveal distinctively feline features.

"Y'know, think I'm actually glad I didn't end up bringing Chance back here tonight," Cindy observed as she came in and plopped into another of the chairs. "That would've been one heck of a surprise."

"The fur isn't half of it," Marie chuckled, her attention largely absorbed by the intensity on the screen as they worked their way to their bedroom, stripping as they went. "Other bits are ... interesting ... too."

"Okay, do I even _want_ to know how you know that?" Cindy asked, raising an eyebrow as she switched to the bedroom camera, the last bits of clothing falling to the floor as Jake pressed Chance back onto the bed.

"Who do you think did their initial examinations and took the species standard readings?" Marie chuckled, then drew a sharp breath as Chance's wrists were bound together and to the head of the bed, then he was blindfolded.

"Wow... wouldn't have guessed he'd be into that," Cindy murmured. "Not from what I saw in the alley."

"I still can't _believe_ we're watching them like this," Marie observed.

"You're still watching," Cindy pointed out.

"Shh," Marie hushed her, her attention almost entirely on the slender tom who was working on teasing Chance into a quivering mass of fur.

"Pity we don't have any of our toys here," Jake crooned in his partner's ear and Chance whimpered softly as claws dancing lightly across his broad chest. "But I guess we'll just have to make do."

"Might not hurt to point him to a few of your websites," Cindy whispered to Marie, who was clearly only half-listening as she nodded slightly.

"I think we'll manage," Chance groaned as Jake's hands worked down his body, arching and pressing up into his hands. "Oooh... you're makin' up for me leaving you hard in the alley, aren't you?" He asked, a playfully accusing tone in his voice.

"And the, oh, two years since I did this last," Jake chuckled and leaned down to tease a nipple to a hard pebble with sharp teeth while his hands pointedly avoided Chance's groin on their way to caressing his inner thighs.

"Oooh ... Don't ever remember you complaining about it," the tabby shot back as he arched into the light touch. "Tease."

"Very much so," Jake purred and let his breath ghost over Chance's rock hard erection, causing not only him but also both females watching to moan softly.

"Jake ...." he shivered, his voice with a desperate edge to it already.

"Oh, it's not going to be nearly so easy," Jake grinned up at the tom who couldn't see him before lowering his head and giving one heavy ball a teasing lick.

"Damn he's good," Cindy murmured as they watched, not nearly as into it as Marie, but still seriously enjoying the show.

"They've been together for like twenty-two years," Marie squeezed her legs together to keep herself from rubbing herself as her arousal mounted.

"Oh... what is it you want then?" Chance asked with a groan as his right ball was treated to the most intense bath he could recall.

"I want you to melt," Jake rumbled as he slowly licked the velvety golden fur that led from the tabby's balls to the furless pucker further back.

"Go ahead girl, you _know_ you want to," Cindy grinned over at her briefly as Chance gasped, somehow managing to arch away from and into the contact all at once, a reaction Jake had long ago gotten used to. It was quickly replaced by an entirely accepting one, the tabby moaning softly and spreading his legs wide.

"Rather be with him," Marie almost whimpered, oblivious to the fact she'd said it out loud. Her full attention was on the tender deliberateness of Jake's movements, the way he ignored his own body's needs so easily when he had his mind set on something. Especially with what he had his mind set on now. She couldn't help but imagine what it would feel like to be in Chance's place right now; to be the subject of that touch and such intense desire.

"That I can't help with," Cindy said, almost as interested in Marie's reaction as she was in the show. It was painfully clear what Marie was thinking about. The feel of fur and claws against skin ... how Jake's rough tongue had felt when they'd kissed. What it would feel like now, giving her the attention she was starting to crave.

She had it bad.

"Gods, Jake," Chance moaned deeply, his shaft hard as a rock. "Please...?"

"Ah, you have no endurance at all," Jake pretended to pout, but it only lasted a moment before his head was down again and he lifted Chance's powerful legs up to began to slowly prepare his mate with his tongue.

"Ah fuck... there's a reason it's been two years," Chance moaned, raising his legs, unknowingly making an excellent display of his well-muscled body as Cindy decided to fully enjoy the show, reaching into her pants and starting to rub herself, biting her lower lip to keep from moaning and distracting Marie.

The other woman was completely absorbed in the show however; her resistance to pleasuring herself failing as Jake slowly pressed his lubed cock into his partner's ass and stilled there, buried up to the fur-covered sheath that contained his cock when it wasn't hard. Watching her as she finally let her fingers slip into her jeans showed just how serious she'd been when she said that she preferred her 'fantasy people' to humans.

Two of whom were putting on one of the best shows either of them had seen in a long, long time.

"Fuck, Jake," Chance moaned, tension and pleasure in his voice as Cindy reached over with her free hand, taking the remote and zooming the camera in on their crotches for a bit, noticing the tiny, rubbery barbs along Chance's cock as Jake started to thrust into him slowly and deliberately.

Each thrust made the tabby's powerful body jerk, his claws sheathing and unsheathing uncontrollably as his balls tightened against his body.

Cindy's attention was briefly diverted from the impending orgasm on the screen by a sharp gasp and shudder in the chair next to her as Marie's curled up form spasmed with one of her own.

Chance's roar got her attention back, and she quickly zoomed back out in time to catch the tabby's face as his claws ripped long lines in the sheets and his shaft sprayed his seed up onto his chest, his entire body contracting and spasming around Jake's shaft. It was barely a single thrust before Jake roared and slammed forward with the first blast of seed from his balls soaked Chance guts.

The pair grunted, growled and finally began to mew as they panted and came down, their fur slicked down with sweat and seed.

Even as Cindy absorbed the sight, she saw Jake's body language shift and he leaned forward to catch one of Chance's hands and gently removed the remains of the rope that he'd broken in the grip of his orgasm.

"That'll bruise," Jake murmured and gently licked the spot.

"Mmm ... I'll live," Chance murmured, wrapping his arms around his lover and pulling him close for a deep, heated kiss.

Cindy turned off the feed, and the TV, pulling her hand out of her pants and wiping her fingers off when Marie wasn't looking.

"Y'want to crash here for the night?" She asked, stretching out languidly.

"I think I want to spend some time in my own bed," Marie murmured, her face flushed with both the aftereffects of her orgasm and the realization of what had just happened.

"With your own toys," Cindy chuckled, grabbing her keys. "I'll drop you off."

* * *

Jake was putting together breakfast the next day, only slightly later than usual, when he heard something scratching at the door. A quick glance at the security camera told him that it was Lojack, the otter-hound mix sitting by the door patiently.

"Door, open," he called out to let him in.

Lojack trotted in, sniffing the air.

"Your den?" He asked with a woof.

"The beginnings of it," Jake nodded and tossed him a slice of half-cooked ham. "There's some serious digging left to do before it's really ready. You heard I wanted to talk to you, or just checking out the new building?"

"Bit of both; thanks," the stray woofed, scarfing up the ham happily, taking a moment to finish it. "Old Alpha was talking about killer-dog?" He asked, trying to communicate what he understood about the situation.

"Yes," Jake nodded. "The one that killed a human yesterday morning. What do you know about it?"

"Not much," he admitted. "Big, smells wrong... like inside and outside. Wild." He sat down as Jake brought his own breakfast in, shaking his fur out as though there was something on him that he didn't like. "Very new. Hasn't been here long, but I've smelled something like it before."

"The true giant that comes out every few months for a few days?" Jake asked, suspecting a connection from early on.

"Yeah," Lojack nodded. "Chaser wants that one bad... ought to be after this one though. This one's angrier, meaner... the other one, I might run with, but _not_ this one."

Jake considered that, thinking about what to ask that would be most useful. "Have you met the nicer one in any other form that you can tell?"

"Don't know," Lojack admitted. "Similar smells, but not the same one. Like how I smell like Old Alpha, a little, after staying with him during the winter."

Jake nodded. "Do you think you can track one of them, if the scent is fresh? Or one of the others in town."

"Could," Lojack acknowledged. "And somebody's pet might actually do it. Me? Forget it. Problem with tracking big things that'll eat you - if you do it right, you catch up with them, and they'll probably try to eat you."

"That's why you have friends with good weapons right behind you," Jake chuckled. "Something you're smart enough to stay close to, but most trackers I know don't."

Lojack considered things for a while as he munched on another piece of ham.

"Most dogs aren't very smart, but most are smart enough to understand simple things like 'stay close', especially if I explain what they're hunting and why they need to stay close to the humans," he offered.

"That would work," Jake nodded. "Any idea where the mean one is hanging out?"

"Not yet," Lojack said. "A week, maybe two, if it keeps hunting."

"Let's hope it prefers deer to human most of the time," Jake murmured. "Thanks, Lojack. Would you keep me informed of anything you come across about either of the big wolves?"

"Should," Lojack said with the canine equivalent of a shrug. "Deer taste better, and that's without actually trying to eat people. Yeah, I'll let you know. Thanks for breakfast," he woofed with a cheerful wag of his tail before heading out the front door that Jake ordered to open for him.

"Thanks," Jake called after him and turned his attention to finishing his meal quickly so he could get to work -- work on aircraft he was actually paid to do.

* * *

"Hey, Dad," Marie called out the next day as she crossed the short hall to her father's office. "Time for the weekly checkup we agreed on."

"You make it sound like that's a punishment," he observed drolly but stood and gave her a welcoming hug and kiss on the cheek. "I see the physical changes are becoming apparent now. Have you been using the contacts?"

"No," she admitted. "I can still see fine, and at this point I think there are a few more obvious things than my eyes," she pointed out, reaching up to ruffle the short fur that was starting to grow out on her face.

"True," he nodded. "Perhaps we should talk to Dr. King about getting you a holo-belt. Even if you don't usually wear it, within a few weeks you will need it when doing presentations and such."

"We've been over this already, Dad," she sighed a bit. "If we're going to know how well it will work out, we have to have at least _some_ idea of how the world's going to react to people at all stages of the transformation. I'm going to wait on the belt at least until I've got a project that _requires_ me to have one coming due, and right now that's going to be a good long ways off."

"So how is the world of Eureka reacting so far?" he asked as they moved into the lab to begin the examination.

"I don't think it's really noticed, for the most part," Marie chuckled. "I've gotten a couple comments about shaving the past few days, but I'll be getting those for the rest of my life probably. I expect more people to notice after my sabbatical."

"Likely our two new aliens will actually make it easier for you," he said.

"Quite possibly," she smiled. "Actually, I have to get a couple unusual things checked out because of that," she added. "Pheromone production, sense of smell, a few things like that."

"Something happened?" he focused on his daughter sharply, openly concerned by the statement.

"Nothing serious, Dad," she sighed. "It's got to do with Jake... Mr. Clawson?" She prompted once it was clear he didn't remember who she was talking about. "We were dancing at the club last night, things got a little more heated than I thought he'd be comfortable with. He asked if I was in season, and even though I _know_ I'm not fertile like this, I wanted to see if there was any extra effect there I needed to know about."

"We'll need him to find out what is affecting him," Dr. Moreau pointed out.

"We know what affects cats, it could be similar for kats. Besides, it shouldn't be that hard to just run a pre-emptive screen to see if I _am_ producing pheromones at a higher rate," Marie said with a slight shrug. "Finding out what _specifically_ it is, that would have to wait until we can get one or both of 'em in for the tests," she acknowledged.

"True," he nodded and began to set up the equipment that was now quite familiar to them both. "How strongly did it affect him?"

"If we hadn't split up when we did, you might've been hearing about it from Deputy Lupo," Marie admitted with a blush. "Which wouldn't be _that_ weird, but Chance sounded like he thought I'd be lucky to get a kiss from him, if that."

"Did Chance react much when you were talking to him?" Dr. Moreau asked.

"Definitely not that much; he seemed more interested in Cindy than in me," Marie said easily. "So it might just have been something specific to Jake, I suppose ... maybe a bit like reacting to catnip, something genetic that Jake has and Chance doesn't."

"Or it could just be you," her father chuckled. "Jake does have a distinct interest in you."

"Well, I'd _like_ to think so," she blushed. "But really, why me? More than another human I could see, but more than females of his own species? I haven't shifted that far; I'd think there would be a lot more barriers there."

"There are two possibilities I can see right off the bat," he considered the readings. "One is that the scent and mental emissions from you are attractive to him on a purely instinctive, biological level. The other is that whatever causes people to fall in love crosses species boundaries. I do not see anything unusual in your readings."

"Don't go planning on trying to explain grand-kittens yet, Dad," Marie chuckled. "That's good though. All indications say that I _should_ still be infertile, right?"

"Even if you are somehow genetically compatible with human or kat, your genetic code is still changing quickly enough that pregnancy is quite impossible," he nodded. "Don't worry about it. It will be at least a year before you stabilize enough to have a fertile egg implant."

"That's what I figured, but with his question I wanted to double-check," she said easily. "Don't know if anything's going to happen, but with what happened last night, I'd say it's _very_ possible."

"Dear? I know we're working together on this project, but I _really_ don't need to know the details of your sex life," the older Doctor said dryly. "Particularly not with the alien cat-person."

"Thank goodness for that," Marie smirked.

"Now, since you seem to be on track and healthy, how are your projects going?" He sat down and relaxed.

"I _think_ I'll have the bio-storage gels ready to start gestating for lifespan tests before my sabbatical," she explained, taking a seat and starting to run through her projects with her father.

* * *

"So, Chance, is there anything you wanted in these?" Jake looked up from where he was sketching out their collars.

"Mmm ... what part are you working on, and how much detail are we looking at?" Chance asked, moving around to look over Jake's shoulders at the tri-colored kat-head design he was working on and wrapped his arms around him from behind.

"Initial concept," Jake chuckled.

"Mmm ... haven't really done collars before," Chance admitted, kissing his mate's neck lightly. "Supposed to be some things in there that are 'us' things, right?"

"Yes," Jake nodded and nuzzled him.

"Mmm ... y'know the TurboKat oughta be on there somewhere then," Chance pointed out. "She's practically been the core of our lives for how long now?"

"More than I care to count," Jake admitted and began to sketch again. "Front or side view?"

"Whichever looks better?" Chance suggested sheepishly. "Design _really_ isn't my strong suit... Jake?" He asked softly.

"Mmm?" Jake looked up, though he was still doodling.

"If it weren't for the kit issues ... you think your family would ever accept us?" Chance asked softly.

"I don't see why not," he shrugged. "My folks never cared who or what I slept with. The only reason we weren't invited to family stuff was because I didn't have any kittens to bring with me."

"Wasn't sure if the whole bit with coming from the wrong side of the tracks would've gotten in the way," Chance murmured, giving Jake a hug. "Wish you'd been able to work something out for them... with them... but who knows? Maybe something'll work out with Marie, y'know?"

"Honestly, if I had kittens, they'd be too damn happy to care about anything else," Jake chuckled weakly. "Marie's the wrong species even if it works out."

"Jake? This is Eureka," Chance pointed out. "Y'don't think they could find some way to _make_ something work if they wanted to?"

"Maybe," he said uncertainly. "It's not why I'm interested in her."

"You _are_ interested though, right? More than just her scent?" Chance said, pressing a bit.

"I think so," he nodded and leaned back into his mate's embrace. "It's hard to tell sometimes, but I like just spending time with her over lunch and the movies."

"She's interested in you too, y'know," Chance smiled. "Remember, don't hold back on my account, okay?"

"I'm not," he assured him. "You know I'm not into getting involved quickly."

"Yeah, but I'm still gonna say it," Chance chuckled. "Though lemme tell you, it didn't look like that last night," he smirked. "I just about swallowed my glass when I saw the two of you."

"You know how much heat-scent gets to you?" Jake looked at him seriously.

"Umm, yeah," he ducked his head a bit.

"Same kind of thing, just a different scent," Jake told him. "It's like nothing else."

"That's weird," Chance murmured. "I didn't smell anything like that, honestly ... more like she owned a lot of cats, but that's about it."

"I don't know what it is, but it's a hell of a rush," Jake said, nearly purring just in memory of the sensation.

"Now y'know why I have such a hard time fighting it," Chance smiled slightly. "Well... if it happens, it happens, okay? Don't go beating yourself up about it after... I don't think she wants it to just be casual sex either."

"If I thought otherwise I would have run that first time," he nuzzled him. "Like I usually do."

"Okay," Chance smiled. "Mmm ... c'mon, let's get back on topic here," he chuckled, indicating the sketch. "It's starting to go together pretty well."

"I do tend to do my best work distracted," he chuckled and examined his creation, a stylized TurboKat blazing across the equally stylized blue and red kat's head insignia. 

"True," Chance smirked. "Mmm ... so, what is it that Marie makes you start thinking about?" He asked Jake, nuzzling the back of his head lightly.

"Mmm," Jake leaned back into the contact. "I think someone wants to get laid again," he snickered even as he thought back to the club when the universe had narrowed to his own burning desire and the female in his arms. "All I could think about was pushing her up against the wall and taking her right there."

"And this surprises you _how_?" Chance laughed. "Mmm ... sort of like how I did afterwards?" He purred.

"Something like that," Jake shivered in excitement and stood to turn into his partner's arms and a heated kiss. "Surprised me because I've never felt anything like that for a female."

"Mmm... she's coming over for dinner tomorrow night, isn't she?" Chance asked, wrapping his arms around Jake and sliding them shamelessly into his pants, squeezing his ass.

"Yes," Jake murmured, much more interested in who was holding him now that what was planned for the next day.

"Mmm... I'll find somewhere else to spend the night then," Chance chuckled. "For tonight... think I could talk you into that getup I found for you last week?"

"That depends on what you want to do once I'm in them," Jake teased him lightly.

"Oh, I think we can come up with a few ideas," Chance purred deeply.

"Just how much do you want to see me in them?" Jake's eyes glittered with mischief.

"Mmm ... tonight? Enough to be just as much a sub as you usually are," Chance grinned playfully. A grinned that widened at the shudder that passed through Jake's entire body.

"Maybe a little more?" Jake purred hopefully and unsheathed his claws to run them down Chance's powerful chest, earning a shiver from the larger tom.

"Yes," he breathed, kissing Jake, running his hands down his sides.

"Good," he murmured and stepped back a bit. "Now go to the bedroom and wait for me."

"Like this, or you want me in something more suitable?" Chance asked with a purr and a grin.

"That all depends on who you want undress you," Jake chuckled and turned to retrieve his leathers to dress in.

Chance headed back to the bedroom, laying back on the bed without bothering to do more than kick off his shoes and socks, waiting for Jake. They didn't do this very often ... but when Jake was in one of these moods, and Chance was up for letting him act it out, it usually made for one Hell of a night.

He didn't have long to wait, and a shiver fluffed his thick fur at the sight of his partner walk into the room in tight leather pants and an open leather jacket. It all was designed to emphasize how well muscled he really was despite how small he looked compared to the tabby he was usually with.

"Damn you're hot in that," Chance purred deeply. "Just think what that'd do to Marie," he winked.

"I'd rather think of what I'm going to do to you," Jake rumbled as he took in the body and soul laid out for his pleasure tonight. It was rare when he felt like really dominating the bigger tom, but they tended to be very intense nights. He licked his whiskers back when Chance stretched himself out, his hands over his head and his legs spread a bit.

Jake knelt on the bed and slid one claw under the neck of Chance's shirt and slowly slit it open as he leaned over and kissed his lover.

The tabby purred deeply, pressing into the kiss, carefully holding his body still so that Jake wouldn't hurt him until he wanted to. It took a little work to get through the cloth, but before long he could lay the shirt out to expose Chance's broad, muscular chest.

He lightly ran his claws down the bared expanse and swirled them just above Chance's belt as he considered his options. He grinned as one occurred to him that he hadn't actually tried for real before with Chance.

"Stay," he ordered huskily as he got up from the bed. "I think this is going to be worth a memento."

"Yes sir," Chance grinned as he left, relaxing a little bit as he waited. Anytime Jake got a look like that it was going to be _good_.

He heard some activity, likely in the spare bedroom; a bit of quick construction, it sounded like. What did that kat have in mind?

He was just about to think that, maybe, he'd gotten himself in over his head. He never did pay any attention to what Jake got up to with the handful of guys he'd gone out with over the years. Maybe he was more into this than he expected.

"Please tell me that drill I heard isn't meant for me," Chance deadpanned as Jake came in.

"No," he chuckled. "I just had a little setup to do. Get up. I hope you can manage to stand for a while."

"Are you seriously trying to suggest you can outlast me?" Chance boasted with a smirk, following Jake into their previously unused spare bedroom. He noticed a new hook in the ceiling and two in the floor, each with a loop of soft rope through them.

"You're more into this than I thought," he admitted, though there wasn't any tone of worry in his voice as he stepped into position between them and let Jake bind his wrists together, then lift them up so his body was nicely taunt.

"I'm usually on the other side," Jake chuckled and bound Chance's ankles well apart but still comfortable to stand on. "But I have done it a few times," he purred and stepped back to admire his partner's situation and the utter lack of tension in his body. "You do look good like that."

"I look better without the pants," Chance teased, a wise-ass grin on his face.

"Yes, you do," Jake nodded as he continued his walk around. "They will, in time," he promised softly and stepped up to slice off the rest of Chance's shirt from behind with a sharp knife.

The tabby shivered a bit, but held still, knowing that he could get hurt if he moved too much. Still, his tail swished behind him, up against Jake's leather pants.

"The blinds staying closed, or are you gonna try and make me as much an exhibitionist as you are?" He asked with a teasing tone.

Jake chuckled and slipped the knife under his belt to play along the tabby's thick stripes with his claws. "I think the six angle recording will do nicely, unless you want to beg for it."

"You're gonna have to take up video editing some time soon," Chance rumbled, pressing into the touch as it danced lightly across his back and down to his ass.

"I think I'll manage," Jake grinned and slid a hand between Chance's leg to cup his balls and feel for his level of arousal. "Ever felt a whip?" he asked softly, seduction and desire in his tone.

"A few times, Master," Chance rumbled, switching quickly to his most submissive attitude. "Felina... well, she had some girlfriends who were kinkier than she was."

"Good," Jake purred and walked around to face Chance again, his expression deadly serious for a moment. "You remember the safeword?"

"Yeah, Jake," Chance nodded, though it had been years since it had mattered ... they'd never used it even when they'd picked one. Neither one of them were inclined to go to the level the other felt threatened at. "Apple; it hasn't been _that_ long," he said.

Jake nodded and kissed him lightly, even though he had to go one his tiptoes for it. When he stepped back, that tenderness, the concern for his partner, had vanished from the surface.

It didn't fool Chance for a second.

He held very still as Jake unbuckled his belt and unzipped his jeans. Soon, the were pooled around his ankles, his sheath full and softly-furred balls heavy as Jake fondled them, drawing a groan of pleasure from the tabby.

Chance trembled slightly as Jake knelt and slowly began to lick Chance's balls, breathing in the heady musk as he drew whimpers from above.

"You're evil, you know that?" Chance groaned, thinking back to the last time they'd been like this, and remembering how long Jake enjoyed teasing him, trying to keep him on the edge. Kat was damn good at it too.

He closed his eyes and allowed himself to tremble at the attention, moaning and whimpering as Jake encouraged him to hardness and proceeded to keep him from going any further. He'd been dribbling pre for some time, his cock aching, when Jake finally stood to look him over, then left the room, leaving the tabby with his thoughts.

He wasn't sure what Jake was after... what toys they'd used before weren't here, obviously, and he didn't think that Jake would have picked up anything yet.

Of course, it wouldn't have been the first time the tom had surprised him.

He doubted it could compare to the first time Jake had come back to their quarters, only days after they had graduated from Enforcer Academy, with fresh whip marks across his back.

He shivered at the thought of it, of how the discussion afterwards had gone. He'd know that Jake was into toms, of course ... what he hadn't known was about the S&M play. It was years after that before they did it themselves ... well after they'd started sleeping together. It had taken him longer to realize that Jake really _did_ get off on it sometimes, giving and receiving.

His mind snapped back to reality with the crack of a whip that preceded its sting across his ass.

"Hey!" He yelped, more from surprise than actual pain, jerking away instinctively.

Should've known that Jake would have enjoyed giving too, the kat was a switch about nearly everything else ... but where had he gotten a whip?

"You didn't think I'd ask about your experience without one, did you?" Jake chuckled from behind him.

"I didn't think you'd had time to go toy-shopping," Chance admitted, taking a few deep breaths to calm himself before going lax for Jake's pleasure again. He wasn't surprised that a blow didn't land again until he was ready, he knew Jake could read him easily enough to avoid really hurting him, but it still made him wonder where, or with whom, he'd learned to do this.

"I didn't," Jake shrugged before landing a calculated blow from shoulder to hip across Chance's back. "It's a real weapon, not a toy," he shivered at the small trickle of blood that stained golden and brown fur before the wound sealed itself with drying blood.

Chance locked his jaw for a moment, fighting against the urge to shout. Jake had always stopped with claws or a bite that drew blood, nothing like this. Still, he wasn't going to give in so quickly.

"Okay, so I didn't know you'd gone whip-shopping," he corrected himself. "Or had one with you."

The heat of Jake's body registered before gentle fingers caressed his back and his tongue cleaned the blood from the tabby's fur.

"It was a gift from the bitch who taught me," he murmured and ran a hand along Chance's side. "Sometimes even I forget what gets packed in that truck," he chuckled, enjoying the physical confusion the alternating pleasure, pain and gentles created.

"Who?" Chance asked, searching his mind for _any_ mention of a Kantin bitch in Jake's dating history.

There weren't any.

"Sasha Te'Lon," he answered with a second blow paralleling the last. "She wasn't a lover, she was a teacher," he tried to explain something he didn't honestly expect Chance to ever fully understand. That something this intimate, this sexual, could be a purely intellectual experience; that a teacher and student did not need to be intimate themselves.

Chance had heard about the type of person before. A lot like Beverly, really; people who taught types of sex. Not somebody he'd ever really dealt with before.

Except for Beverly, of course, but that wasn't his idea either, for all it had been fun, and she wasn't teaching him intentionally.

"Before our time?" Chance asked, taking the time the question offered to steel himself for the next lash.

"No, only five years ago," Jake said before creating a third line across Chance's back. Then he stepped close against Chance's back to rub his rock-hard erection against the tabby's ass.

"Please?" Chance whimpered softly, pressing back against Jake's shaft. He could take more of the lash ... but, honestly, he didn't really want more, especially not compared to the idea of feeling Jake inside of him. It was how much it turned Jake on that made it worth it, and that Jake didn't care to do it often by his own statement.

"Anytime," Jake murmured and flicked the knife from his belt up towards the ceiling, snapping the rope that bound Chance's arms above him cleanly. "Hands and knees," he ordered.

He didn't need to give the order; Chance almost collapsed as soon as the rope had been cut, and with Jake's order he dropped, raising his ass and tail in an openly wanton display.

"Only for you, Jake," he moaned softly, breathing hard in anticipation and pain.

"Thank you," Jake murmured as he pressed forward, shuddering as he hilted himself inside his lover's body and reached down to stroke the still-hard cock between Chance's legs and lick at the wound's he'd just caused.

The tabby hissed, pain and pleasure mingling as Jake's fingers danced over his barbs, his shaft working in and out of Chance's ass. He moaned, squeezing down tight around Jake's shaft, eyes squeezed shut with pleasure as the pain in his back faded from his awareness.

They were both breathing hard when Jake's balls tightened against his body and pre began to add a bit more slickness to their mating.

"Fill me, Jake," Chance moaned needily, eager to feel Jake's seed in him again. He knew he didn't need to beg, but he knew just as well that it gave Jake a rush when he was in this mood. Sharp teeth bit into Chance's back, drawing blood as Jake slammed into him and emptied his balls.

Chance roared with his own orgasm, spraying his seed onto the carpet.

"Mmm, such a pretty kitty," Jake rumbled as he pulled out and stood, his leathers still on except for the flap in front of his crotch. He watched as his partner gasped for breath on hands and knees, the three angry red lines of the whip and a bloody bite mark on his back. "Quite a mess you made as well," he observed.

"If Master would allow me to untie my ankles, I could clean it up," Chance purred back to him, enjoying giving in completely to Jake's more dominant side.

"Very well," Jake nodded and sat down in a chair, his body in a relaxed, commanding sprawl as he watched his partner turned pet for the night indulge in a subby streak almost as rarely displayed as Jake's own dominant desires.

Chance turned around, lowering his head, making a shameless display of himself as he licked up his own juices. The taste was bitter to him, more than it was to Jake, but he didn't pay any attention to it. About the only thing about it he really disliked at this point was how his tongue caught some of the carpet fibers, leaving him spitting up light shag once he was finished. It was much easier on a bed, wood or tile floor.

Still, the arousal he could see building again in Jake made any inconvenience worth it.

"Something else wants your attention now," Jake purred hotly, his legs spread a bit to give Chance room to kneel between them.

"Yes Master," Chance purred, crawling over on all fours, taking his place between Jake's legs, starting to lavish the cinnamon-furred balls with his tongue, drawing one into his mouth to suckle it lightly. His mate's distinctive musk was heavy with sex and thick in his nose and went strait to his cock. So did the possessive way Jake caressed his head as he worked.

"Yesss," Jake hissed and tightened his grip on Chance's head as the attention began to work on him particularly well.

Chance rolled his eyes up, looking at Jake lovingly as he let the heavy, furry orb fall from his mouth, nuzzling his way slowly up his sheath and cock, inhaling his potent scent before taking him into his mouth, purring and working him hungrily with his mouth for the first of many times tonight.

* * *

Marie looked herself over in the full-length mirror in her bathroom, nervously trying to judge whether she was over or under dressed for dinner at Jake's home, and whether the knee-length black skirt and flowing white blouse would be taken as too sexual, or not sexy enough.

"Stop over-analyzing, girl," she muttered to herself. "You look fine. He liked you well enough in old jeans and a t-shirt."

With a deep breath she considered the perfumes she had, then decided against them. If it really was her personal scent that Jake liked so much there was no benefit to covering it up. If it was something she usually wore, she wanted to know that soon too.

"At least I don't have anything catnip based," she joked nervously to herself, stopping to take a deep breath. She wasn't even out the door, and she was as nervous as a teenager waiting for prom!

"Calm down, girl," she muttered quietly, heading out to her car after making sure she had the directions to Jake's place right. There was no reason to be this wound up; if something happened, it did, if not, it didn't.

It was less than a mile, but she had managed to work herself up and down at least three times before she knocked on the door, even as she suddenly realized she didn't know whether Chance was going to be there or not.

"Hi," Jake smiled as he opened the door, then his eyes went wide as he took her in. "You look incredible," he blurted out.

"Thank you," she blushed, ducking her head a bit. By most human standards it wasn't true anymore, though she still had a good physique, but he was used to the idea of different species, so she was getting used to the idea that his standards were different too. "May I come in?"

"Oh, sorry, yes please," he ducked his head in embarrassment and stepped back to give her room. "I hope you like what Vincent made. I'm not sure what it is, but it smells good."

"I'm sure it'll be fine," she smiled, stepping in. "Is Chance going to be eating with us?" She asked curiously, not seeing the tabby anywhere, but still not sure if he'd be there or not.

"No, it's just us tonight," he said softly and guided her to the dinning room table, already laid out with the meal and several candles casting a soft light around the room.

"Romantic," she smiled, following him in and quickly recognizing the general meal, if not the specific types of seafood that he had used. "Chilean ceviche?" She asked him, trying to place the type of fish that Vincent had used.

"Something like that," he nodded uncertainly and pulled a chair out for her. "About the only thing that really got across was it involved chilies, fish and citrus, and my nose told me that."

"Welcome to ordering from the Cafe Diem," Marie giggled, taking her seat and waited for him to do the same. "He honestly enjoys it if people can't pronounce what he's put together, particularly around here. You want to trip him up some time though, start ordering with scientific names," she winked. "Particularly if you go down into sub-species."

"I'll keep that in mind. I heard that Chance's first order stumped him for a while," Jake grinned at her. "Ordered catnip on pizza."

"That _would_ be strange," she grinned back. "What sort of effect does catnip have on you guys?" She asked him, cocking her head slightly as they started to eat the citrus-cooked white fish.

"Depends on the individual and especially the variety," Jake tried a bit and purred softly at the fine, sweetly sour taste of nearly raw fish. "Six varieties are illegal in MegaKat City, three others are controlled substances by prescription only and two are legal. It's mostly based on potency; the more potent, the less likely it is to be legal. Effects are similar to alcohol with the legal varieties, though it's much more likely to make someone playful than violent or amorous. It's rather like walking in a daydream. The more potent varieties can cause vivid hallucinations, dementia and are highly addictive."

"Wow," she murmured. "Going to have to figure out if there are that many varieties around here too, I guess. Be nasty to trip across the wrong sort around here. The one Vincent found was more like the mild ones, I'm guessing?"

"Milder than that," he nodded. "Didn't even give him a buzz," he chuckled.

"I _think_ that's a good thing," she chuckled. "Chance high... I'm not sure Earth is ready for that. Though catnip does tend to have an effect on some cats around here ... usually somewhere between what you described and being a mild aphrodisiac."

"One illegal variety is, though I'm not sure I'd call it mild," he nodded. "It's currently under clinical trials for helping those with sexual problems. I'm not sure how well it's working, but I doubt it'll be approved. The mayor would never risk the public backlash by legalizing in any way the drug most associated with serial rapists. He's far too concerned with staying in office to do something useful." Jake muttered.

"That sounds familiar," Marie grumbled. "Biotech's a field that has to put up with a _lot_ of that crap these days."

"Yeah, ever since Dr. Viper showed up, MegaKat City's had the same kind of PR problem for them," he nodded, then hesitated. "Umm, Marie ... are you human?"

"Actually, I'm kinda in transition," she said easily. "Born human, but... well, we're not entirely sure what my status will be after this next project is done. Dad and I are working on a gene-therapy that should end with me in a form pretty much like yours."

"Why?" he asked, at an utter loss as to why anyone would want to become a creature with questionable legal status.

"That's... complicated," she admitted. "You want me to start with the personal end of things, or the bigger scale of what we're shooting to be able to do by the time it's done?"

"Personal," he decided quickly, more than a little shocked that she wasn't just a subspecies or alien like him.

"Personally... I've always liked cats better than most people," she admitted. "Always used to pretend to be one, that sort of thing. I'm not the only one; there's a lot to be said for animal forms that can't be said about human ones," she said easily. "Beyond that... well, I'm a Moreau," she chuckled. "Folks have kinda always figured one of us was going to do this eventually, it was just a matter of having the proper mix of brilliant and nuts to go for it."

"Long line of gene-mixers?" he half guessed.

"Long line of tampering with the line between animal and human," she corrected him. "My Dad and I are the first two to work on the genetic end of things seriously, but it goes back at least another three generations. Fortunately, the insanity seems to have bred out around my grandfather's time," she chuckled ruefully.

"Glad to hear it," Jake murmured, more than a bit in shock at what he'd just heard. "I think I don't want to know what the earlier ones did, for all I could probably trade stories with them." He shook his head sharply, trying to clear too many memories he wished he didn't have from his thoughts. "I'm not much on the bio-sciences; but I learned enough to hold a conversation with the various nuts that have created the things we end up fighting," he sighed. "Less about genetics, more on transition, reversal of it and out to kill without getting killed. Got a lot better at just guessing it."

"Well, the transition part's in there, but Dad and I are a _lot_ more mellow about that sort of thing," Marie said reassuringly. "I haven't created a monster that got loose and went on a rampage since Junior High ... and he was six inches at the shoulder, fuzzy, and it was only a rampage if you happened to be a marshmallow Peep," she giggled. "A pet kitten I spoiled rotten," she explained a bit more seriously at his bewildered looked. "Peeps are candy. He had a major sugar addiction."

"Oh," Jake let out a small breath of relief, even though he only half understood. "On those grounds, I'm probably guilty of creating some kind of monster of Chance," he chuckled.

"Probably multiple kinds," she teased.

"Oh, he was full of it when we met," Jake laughed, relaxing as his favorite subject came up. "I just focused him a bit more."

"Mmm ... so, out of party-monster, adrenaline junkie, and sex-fiend, which one do you take credit for?" She asked with a giggle, sipping the white wine that went with their dinner.

"Oh, he was always those," he chuckled. "Top pilot, passably tolerant loser and world famous ... those I had a hand in. Though I suppose I upped his standards as an adrenaline junkie considerably."

"If you gave him the toys I've heard about, I'll bet," she smiled. "Jake? Can I ask a question that might be personal?"

"Sure, I just might not answer it," he looked at her curiously, still not ready to tell her outright that he'd talk about anything she wanted him to.

"Well, it seems like you and Chance have _really_ different ideas of what's a good time ... and you date a _lot_ differently," she giggled. "Not that I've gone out with Chance to find out, but I suspect that by now the conversation would be... limited. I get the feeling that he has _no_ problems with casual relationships. You're a lot more...." She thought for a moment, trying to find the right word. "Shy, I guess, or maybe reserved ... at least it seems that way."

"We are different," he shrugged, though there was a fond smile there too. "We kind of agreed early on that he wouldn't tease me about being old-fashioned, and I'd refrain from calling him a slut. I just can't appreciate the idea of being with someone I don't care about, and don't trust. Sometimes, I swear that's the point of it for him."

"Maybe it is," Marie mused. "You're really okay with it, and everything that goes with it?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "He's careful enough. He doesn't want an unexpected kitten any more than I do. Besides, it goes both ways. I just tend to have a boyfriend, rather than an evening of fun."

"So... you guys don't have FIV, or anything like it, on your world?" She asked him, before even _thinking_ about the fact that it wasn't exactly suitable dinner-table conversation. "Sorry, forget I asked that," she said, shaking her head.

"Okay," he nodded, though he made a mental note to ask her about what FIV was later. "How is your transformation project going?"

"Well, I'd like to think it's going pretty well," she smiled. "I'm the only human test subject just now, but if we can get it to work it could help make a _lot_ of people's lives better. We'll know a lot more in a few months, after I go on leave; the more dramatic changes should be hitting in a few more treatments, and I don't really want to make everybody else deal with me going through them."

"How will it help others?" he asked, honestly at a loss.

"Are you familiar with the idea of transsexuals?" She asked him, not sure if it was something that existed in his world or not. "People with bodies of one gender, minds and personalities that identify more as the other?"

"Not really, but I imagine it's stressful as all krud," he murmured, his mind going back to his own various transformations, and helping Chance recover from his.

"Especially when you're born that way," she nodded. "There are surgical procedures that can be used, but they're incredibly invasive, and they only really work to give the physical and anatomical appearance that's appropriate; you might be anatomically correct, but you're not fertile, and there are all manner of subtle differences. In theory, the same treatment that's turning me into a cat-person could also be used to turn a man into a _real_ woman, complete with all the extras that the surgical approach denies them. Plus, if you were willing to take the time, it should be reversible, which the surgery normally isn't."

"Wow," Jake murmured, not sure what to make of the places his brain was going on the possibilities, good and bad. "How long does a transformation take?"

"We think about a year... I'm just about on schedule now, the big question is how long the gross physical changes will take," she explained. "In my case, the claws, tail, complete eye shift, bone and internal structures shifting ... a bunch of things that are all going to be fairly nasty when they _do_ shift."

"I imagine," he nodded. "Ours were always the nearly-instant kind. A couple minutes at longest. Kat to frog-monster hurt like hell according to Chance. But none of those were intentional on our part either. When you're going carefully or care about whether the subject survives, I expect it isn't as simple."

"Oh yeah," she nodded. "I have a feeling that Dad's got some research that applies ... he's been able to get past every roadblock I hit with a glance and a couple minutes to think. But as it is, we're taking our time to make sure it's not too much strain to the system."

"Speaks for his sanity, and yours," Jake smiled a bit, his plate nearly clear. "Would you like to stay for a movie?"

"Sure," she smiled back. "You have something in mind?"

"Well, I dug up the extended version of something that was big a few years ago. Lord of the Rings. The graphics look good, and it's nice and long for snuggling."

"Sounds wonderful," she smiled, finishing her own meal and stood when he did. "And I've seen it, it _is_ a good movie," she offered. "All three of them. I haven't watched the extended release though."

"Good to hear it," he smiled and drew her into a loose embrace and chaste kiss. "I'd love to spend the night snuggled up with you."

"Same here," she smiled, following him into the front room dominated by an entertainment center that was impressive even by Eureka standards.

* * *

Some hours later, outside Deputy Josephina Lupo's apartment, somebody was lurking with a high-end video camera.

"C'mon... let her be here tonight...." The peeping tom whispered hopefully, quietly praying that, tonight, the gorgeous woman would be changing in front of her picture window again. He didn't know if she knew he watched her, sometimes... to be honest, he rather hoped she didn't. If she did, he was sure she would have castrated him already.

But, for a body like hers, it was worth the risk to catch her relaxed, try and catch her changing.

"She's mine," a deep, ragged growl made him turn around quickly ... but not quickly enough. A loud snarl later, and the camera was flying through the woods, its owners body collapsing to the forest floor with blood spraying from his severed jugular.

The dark, hulking figure responsible crouched down, slinking out of the forest on all fours, up to Jo's door. The massive wolf reached up, scratching lightly on her door to see if she was there... then, satisfied that she wasn't, marked the area near her step with his scent before going back into the woods.

Once safely under cover again... the wolf stood, hunched over but clearly bipedal. He reached down, taking the snoop's head in two massive hands and putting one clawed foot on his stomach, to hold him down. With a sickening crack, crunch, and rip, his head came off in the Wolf's hands, to be carried almost reverently to the deputy's doorstep, left to lay there as the blood that was left slowly drained out.

His errand complete, the Wolf returned to the body again, settling in to eat quietly and wait for her to return.

The half moon was high before he heard a vehicle approach, and he shifted forward a bit to catch a clearer view of it. It was the same one as his last visit, the light bar on top clearly marking it.

Good.

He hunkered down, licking his lips, eager to see her reaction. Crimson blood coated his muzzle as he fought to control himself, to keep himself from rushing the car and taking her off right now. That wasn't the right way....

Not yet.

She was too dangerous to take like that, even though she'd rejected the gift so far. She had to be at least somewhat willing. He had to remind her why they had been chosen.

"What the ...." she muttered as she saw the package, then gasped sharply as she realized what it was.

He shifted, almost imperceptibly, licking his lips. She was so perfect ... the Beast within ached to go for her, now, told him that he could rebuild what they'd had over time. He forced it down, squelched it with the force of will and reason.

There would be time later. Now ... he was sure he would have to flee, soon, but he would wait just a bit longer....

She ran to her vehicle, her fear palatable on the wind, and called the Sheriff ... a different man than before. A younger man with a willful voice. One who didn't understand why she was so concerned and didn't really want to come, but he would.

Now she was at her trunk to retrieve the heavy weapons.

Some things never changed.

He backed away, carefully, quietly, buying himself some time and space before laying down and willing himself to change, pain wracking his body as his joints shifted rapidly, his form shrinking, becoming a smaller, faster target. He got back to his feet, four of them now, trembling lightly as he tried to see where Jo was again.

He saw her close to the house, the floodlights around it now making it brighter than day and much more white. It made her an easy target, but she had little reason to believe what was out there would shoot her and every reason to believe it was a close quarters attacker.

She was right too, at least by his preference.

He wasn't about to attack her though... not now. It was just a shame that she was staying there... would have been better if she were hunting him. He could have done so much then.

He crept up to the very edge of the forest, keeping himself hidden yet. He'd have to up the ante the next time. For now, it was time to see if her reaction would change any, once she was finished with what her duty demanded of her.

* * *

Across town as dawn broke, Chance quietly slipped into the house with a yawn.

"It is _way_ too early to be up," he muttered to himself. It was too... but, after finding Cindy at the club again and spending an energetic night at her place, he was hoping to catch Jake before he woke up. He wasn't particularly worried that Marie might be there; it wasn't really... Jake's style....

The tabby's thoughts trailed off as he locked the door and turned around to see Jake and Marie snuggled up against each other on the couch, the TV still on and playing some fantasy-type flick.

"Well I never," he chuckled quietly as he pulled his shirt off and started back towards the bedroom. It took that long for it to register that they were both fully dressed and the room didn't smell of sex. "Only Jake," he shook his head to himself and started to strip the rest of the way down.

"Not only me," Jake chuckled from behind him and slid his arms up the tabby's chest from behind. "You're home early," he purred.

"I'd figured you wouldn't want to wake up alone," Chance purred in return, pressing back against Jake lightly. "Who'd have guessed you already weren't going to. So, how'd it go?" He asked, glancing back to see that Marie was still sound asleep.

"We had a good time," he smiled and reached up to kiss him. "I'm really starting to like her, a lot."

"I'll make a note not to come home early next time she's over," Chance teased. "Mmm ... so, think you can stay in bed long enough to give me a bit of what she got last night?"

Jake glanced at Marie, then nodded and gave Chance a kiss. "Let me send her home, then I've got a couple hours or so."

"Thanks," Chance smiled, returning the kiss. "Seeya soon... and let her know you two were cute like that," he winked before heading off to the bedroom while Jake returned to the living room to rouse Marie.

"Mmm?" she blinked up at him, her brain not really on line.

"It's morning," he told her quietly. "We fell asleep on the couch."

"Oh," she murmured, starting to wake up a bit, yawning and stretching out, unconsciously making an attractive display of her body. "I should probably be getting back home... thanks," she smiled, giving Jake a light kiss. "I had a wonderful time last night."

"So did I," he smiled and drew her close. "Thank you."

"Mmm ... maybe do this again next week?" She smiled, giving him a hug, enjoying the way it felt to have him against her, his fur against her in particular. "Still have another two movies to get through," she winked.

"Sounds good," he purred, running his hands down her sides. "Your place next time?"

"Works for me," she smiled, almost purring herself, something that made _much_ more sense now that he knew about her changing. "Maybe we'll run one or two of mine too, if we stay up through the whole movie this time," she giggled.

"Maybe," he chuckled and let her go before walking her to the door. "See you for lunch?"

"See you then," she promised, turning to give him one last quick kiss before heading out to her car, leaving Jake with a few hours before he had to go in, and Chance in the other room waiting for him.

Jake shut the door and turned to spend some time with his mate, debating between the snuggling Chance had asked for and the sex his own body was aching for.

"Which ever's fine with me," Chance murmured softly, kissing Jake's neck lightly as the cinnamon-furred tom crawled into bed with him, guessing what was on his mind with a glance at his groin.

"Mmm, I could really stand to get off," Jake chuckled and slid his hands up Chance's chest with a more eager kiss that quickly became passionate.

"I think I can handle that," the tabby rumbled, kissing him back before the two of them became oblivious to their surroundings.


	5. Games Lovers Play

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written with Karl Wolfemann

"Hi Jo," Vincent greeted the deputy as she walked in a little before the lunch rush. "Any word on the critter that's been killing folks?"

"No," she said simply.

"C'mon, you have to know something about it... I hear the latest one was right outside your place," Vincent pressed. "You must have a clue after two weeks."

"Yes, there was an attack outside my house," she confirmed what was already relatively common knowledge. "We don't know any more about it than before," she lied outright. "Taggart is hunting it. He should have it soon."

"I hope so," he mused, probably already coming up with speculation to fill in the copious blanks in what he knew. "People are starting to get worried. So, what'll you have?"

"It's under control," she insisted even as she glanced at the map of Eureka with its bets marked out on where it would strike next. The heaviest betting seemed to be split between Blake and Stark with Taggart coming in a close third. "Just ... surprise me," she ordered. "And a creative chef's special for Carter."

Vincent blinked in surprise. "What aren't you telling me, Jo?"

"I'm just not in the mood to really try and freak him out today," she shrugged slightly, trying to brush it off. "Like you said; everybody's been on edge for the past week. Guess who the Sheriff has handling everybody's calls about whether or not they're safe?"

"Right," Vincent backed off, knowing better than to press any further. "Two chef's specials coming up."

The bell on the door behind her tinkled as it opened and closed, and a familiar voice spoke up from behind her.

"Been a while, Josephina."

She whirled around, her hand on her gun even as she sized the heavily muscled Caucasian man up. "Not long enough, Jaeger," she nearly growled. "Aren't you still supposed to be in lock-up?"

"C'mon, Jo," he said, rolling his eyes and brushing back his short, steel-grey hair. "Don't you think you'd have heard if any of us were out that weren't supposed to be? Besides, Thompson's the one who keeps trying to escape. They just decided that I could take a little break, thought I'd catch up."

"Right, sure they did," she crossed her arms and glared. "Maybe do a little hunting while you were in town?"

"Now why would I bother hunting when I've got all the pleasures of civilization right around here?" He asked with a slight smirk. "Good food, places with warm beds... old friends? Come on, what have I done that was so wrong, huh?"

"Nothing, except that you are a psychopath, even by project standards," she stepped close and grabbed his arm, though she did make a point of making the move one he could easily see coming to avoid the same instinctive reflexes she had. "I'll just ask you to stay in the office until I confirm your story."

"You know I don't like being cooped up, Jo," he said with a smile that was entirely insincere. "So, unless you've got some charge to arrest me on...?"

"You can come with me, or I will," she smiled back sweetly, a look he still remembered as the one she gave when she thought she had someone pinned down with no escape and was ready for the kill.

"All right," he shrugged slightly. "I'll be looking forward to the apology when you let me go."

"For doing my job? Hardly," she muttered and led him out.

"You know, I'd have thought you'd be happier to see somebody around here who actually understands you," Jaeger half-joked as she led him into the Sheriff's office and the cell, much to Carter's surprise.

"What's up, Jo?" He asked, looking between her and the stranger she practically tossed into the cell.

"That one is a felon, last I heard," she said simply and picked up the phone to make the call.

"I'm not, she just doesn't believe me," Jaeger told him. "Carl Jaeger. New sheriff in town?"

"Yeah, Jack Carter," he said, looking at the new arrival a little more warily now. "Jo, what's he supposed to be wanted for?" He asked as she worked on navigating the switchboard to get through to whoever she wanted to call.

"Serial killer, military prisoner," she summarized it without mentioning what she shouldn't and turned her attention to the other end of the phone.

"Military scapegoat," Carl corrected. "I just did what I was told to."

"So did Eichmann," Carter pointed out.

"Watch it," Carl almost growled. "Besides, we weren't 'serial killers' any more than any other unit was. You were along with us; you remember how it was, don't you Josephina?" He asked her sweetly.

"More than I want to," she actually snarled at him, earning them both a nervous look from Carter and some kind of reaction from the other end of the phone conversation that drew her back to it.

"And not nearly enough," Carl chuckled.

"Look, if you're going to kill him, just wait until I'm out of the office, okay?" Carter got up, not really wanting to be around anything that could make her that angry.

"Oh, she won't kill me," Carl chuckled as Carter left. "You work for _that_ now?" He asked her, raising an eyebrow.

"No," she glared at him after putting the phone down. "I work for the Army, same as always."

"Oh c'mon, you _know_ what I mean," he laughed, leaning back against the cell bars. "At least Cobb had half a brain in his head. So old Cobb finally kicked the bucket -"

"Medical leave," Jo corrected him.

"Close enough," Jaeger shrugged. "He finally left, and they bring in some hotshot out-of-towner to take his place, _over_ you? That must've stung."

"You know exactly why they did too," she shrugged, pushing down the rage she still felt on occasion over it. "You're free to go," she unlocked the cell. "If you don't get back to your mission in twenty-four hours, I'm authorized to bring you in."

"Oh it _can't_ be that simple for you," he smirked, stepping out of the cell. "I'll bet it's just eating you up inside. Knowing they don't _trust_ you, after everything you've done, everything you've given up, everything you've sacrificed for them...."

"They don't exactly trust you either," she pointed out. "They let me live free. You and the others are under lockdown unless you're on assignment."

"I don't particularly need their trust," he shrugged. "I just can't believe you've let yourself be... domesticated like this."

"Just goes to show how little you know me," she crossed her arms and leaned back against her desk. "Now get out of here."

"All right," he shrugged slightly, starting out. "Let me know if you're ever looking to... get ahead around here," he said as he headed out and down the street.

"Okay... who _was_ that guy?" Carter asked as he came back in. "And why did you just turn him loose?"

"Carl Jaeger. Was Army Rangers, now black ops," she grumbled, nearly a flat out growl. "I was ordered to."

"Figures," Carter muttered. "Does he work for GD?"

"Never did," she shook her head. "Still Army, like you're still a Marshal."

"Going to be sticking around, or was he just coming by to catch up with you?" He asked, turning to look back at the door Jaeger had left through.

"Trying to catch up with me," she muttered. "He never did get the message I don't want to see him again."

"I'll keep an eye out for him," Carter decided easily. "He looks like trouble to me."

"He is," Jo confirmed. "If he's still here in twenty-four hours, I can arrest him and ship him out."

* * *

Jessica Bruener drew a deep breath and stepped out of her solar car in front of the house of the newest residents in Eureka, their back yard already littered with black and red vehicles, and the driveway had a tow-truck and two strange red and black motorcycles in residence. It didn't surprise her that it looked quite barren except for their projects, but it didn't make her feel any better.

She was keeping an open mind about this. The yard looked like a strange mix of a military depot and a trailer park, but she knew all too well that a lot of yards looked like that around here. One only had to look at Eureka's renegade star to know that. Henry's Garage was an icon of sorts.

That wasn't why she was here. It wasn't why she doubted Clawson's qualifications or abilities. It didn't help, but it wasn't the main reason why. She couldn't find a damn thing about him outside of the few days worth since his arrival in Eureka. He didn't even have the forms filled out that he should. As far as she could find out, the man simply had not existed before two weeks ago.

She walked up to the front door and knocked politely.

"Hi," a light male voice greeted her even before the door even fully opened, and abruptly she no longer wondered why he didn't seem to exist.

"What _are_ you?" She asked, all the things she'd been planning to say completely gone from her mind as she looked at the cinnamon-furred humanoid feline.

This actually explained quite a few of her questions.

Jake sniffed at her a bit before answering. "A Kat, an alien and stuck here," he explained and stepped aside. "Would you like to come in, Ms. Moreau?"

"Bruener," she corrected him, almost on reflex. "Thank you... how did you know...?"

"You smell a lot like your daughter," he smiled and showed her into the living room where a large tabby Kat was lounging on the couch watching cartoons. Scooby Doo from the look of it. "That's Chance," he added by way of introduction even as the TV was paused and Chance looked over the back of the couch at her with a winning smile.

"A ... pleasure to meet you," she said, nodding towards Chance. Of course. The first aliens that arrived on the planet that they knew of, and one of them would enjoy cartoons. She shook her head slightly, clearing it as much as commenting on what she was seeing, trying to bring herself back onto the topic at hand. "I was hoping to speak with you about Marie," she told Jake.

"Sure," Jake nodded and guided her towards the kitchen even as the TV came back to life and the volume was turned down a bit.

"I'm sorry about my first reaction to seeing you," she offered as the two of them sat down. "I wasn't expecting you to not be human. I'm Dr. Jessica Bruener, Marie's mother."

"Jake Clawson," he gave his full name. "I wasn't expecting someone we didn't know to come knocking," Jake chuckled and sat across from her. "We have holo-belts so we don't freak out folks, but we don't use them when we don't need to. Sorry about the surprise there."

"I'll live," she chuckled slightly. "Does Marie know?" She was pretty sure that she did ... it certainly wouldn't have slowed her down to know.

"Yes," Jake nodded seriously. "She and her father did most of our initial exam here. She knows almost as much about Kats as I do. She knows what our human appearances are as well."

"Good," she nodded. "You are aware of her own... changes?" The older woman asked, after a few moments to find a word she could say without making her distaste for the process too obvious.

"Yes," he nodded. "I can't say I understand why, even after hearing her explanation. Her final form is to be something like ours as I understand it."

"I don't understand it either," Jessica admitted. "Following in her father's footsteps, I suppose. Is that why the two of you are seeing each other?"

"I'm not sure about her, but it's not my reason," Jake said softly. "Maybe with a couple decades here it would make a difference, but not now. We're stuck now, but there is still a good chance we'll find a way home."

"And if you do?" She asked, leaving a number of questions open... and Jake was fairly sure she was doing so intentionally.

"Assuming we get a choice in the matter, we'll decide then," he chuckled ruefully from too much experience with the no choice version. "It'll depend on how long it takes to get the chance, how good Earth has been to us in the meantime, how strong our ties here are," he shook his head. "If it was tomorrow, we'd probably be gone. Next year ... I'm not so sure."

"And if anybody, including Marie, wanted to go back with you, if you had a choice in the matter?" She pressed.

"Marie'd fit in, at least if she stays feline," Jake said after thinking a bit on a question he hadn't really considered before. "Anyone else it would be a pretty bad idea," he looked directly at her. "It would be her final choice, but I'd take her if she wanted to come. If she's crazy enough to want to live in MegaKat City after hearing about it, she'll fit right in. She'd be able to make a good living there with what she knows, maybe even make a real difference."

It was clear that he hadn't given her the answer she'd been hoping for, but she didn't say anything to it, just nodding slightly.

"She's an adult, ma'am," Jake said to the silence and shifted uneasily. "It's her choice to make."

"I know," she acknowledged. "But like her turning herself into a cat-person, it doesn't mean I have to approve of the idea. If you do stay here, what are you eventual intentions, as far as dating Marie?"

"I don't date if I'm not serious," he told her quietly but deadly serious. "Assuming she decides she actually likes me once the novelty wears off, and I like her once I actually get to know her ..." he shook his head a bit. "Despite what the tabby out there likes to tease me by saying, we're still just new friends considering the idea of going for more. Right now, I'm still working out the social conventions with all this. It's giving me a headache and a half and she's not a lot of help. I don't think she really cares what anybody calls it, including us."

"It gave you a headache back home," the tabby in question called back with a chuckle before he appeared at the door to the kitchen, his expression much more somber. "Seriously, Jake's a good guy and he really does care about Marie. He hasn't even slept with her yet," he rolled his eyes a bit when Jake turned a bright red under his fur and tried to disappear into his chair. "She wanted to know." Chance pointed out with a bit of a snicker. "Besides, you're the only guy I know who's actually said _no_ to somebody 'cause you didn't know 'em well enough, and you've done it repeatedly."

"You promised you weren't going to bring that up anymore," Jake muttered at him.

"I promised not to tease you about it," Chance corrected him with a fond smile. "I'm not teasing you here."

"I'm starting to think I'd be better off talking to your housemate," Dr. Bruener chuckled, glancing back at Chance.

"If you're going for the details on my sex life with Marie, or lack thereof, yes." Jake said from under his arms.

"I have had a few more of these conversations," Chance pointed out with a chuckle. "Some of them with folks much more blunt than Ms. Bruener here," he swung a chair around and sat down on it backwards. "Anything else you'd like to know?"

"How'd you two end up here together?" She asked, going for a slightly less embarrassing subject for Jake for a while.

"We're a combat team," Chance answered easily. "Pilot and gunner. Whatever pulled us here grabbed our jet and everything in it during a battle."

"Along with the dragon we were fighting," Jake added quietly, still largely sunk into his chair.

"So you two were the commotion a few weeks back," she mused. She should have guessed something like that; the rumors were certainly flying about it yet. She was just slightly out of the loop; she hadn't heard them about the two new arrivals.

"Yeah, that was us," Chance nodded with a grin. "We still manage to make an entrance."

"What sort of education did you have, back home?" She asked Jake, focusing on him a bit more again.

Jake blinked in surprise at the question, then thought back to when it had been worked out the local terms. "By local standards I have a Doctoral in Aerospace, a Master's in Engineering, a Master's in Micro-technology and a Bachelor's in Computer Sciences from MegaKat City University. I was working on my Doctorate in Micro-technology and Master's in Computer Sciences when we landed here. It's not quite so long a list back home."

It was clear that she was surprised about that, and just as clear that she approved.

"Surprised they didn't include something about that in the information that's available about you. I'll admit, I'd been a little concerned when I couldn't find anything about it."

"They're probably still working on filing a lot of the paperwork," Jake shrugged.

"Because you couldn't find anything on degrees he's got?" Chance asked a little incredulously.

"This _is_ a city of scientists and researchers," she pointed out, irritated that Chance seemed rather offended by it and Jake actually looked at her in disgust. "It matters a bit more around here, at least to some of us."

"Chill, Chance," Jake said quietly as he moved back to a neutral expression. "If it matters to her, that's her issue."

"It wouldn't have particularly mattered if you weren't seeing Marie," she pointed out. "I just have some standards for my daughter; she's not really one for casual dating either, so I wanted to get a feel for who she was going out with."

"A junkyard mechanic," Jake told her bluntly. "I fixed cars for a living, such as it was."

"What?" She asked sharply, standing up.

"You heard me," Jake glared at her. "I'm a junkyard mechanic. No one else would have anything to do with me."

"And why -"

"Out," Chance said firmly, moving to enforce the order.

"Wha-"

"Private property, lady," Chance said simply, herding her out the back door. "I'm sure you can find the way back around to the front." With that, he closed it, leaving Dr. Bruener to fume outside as he locked the door and turned to sit down next to Jake, hugging him.

"You gonna be okay?" He asked softly.

"I'll be fine," he sighed and leaned into the contact. "It's hardly the first time I've seen that reaction. I do understand where it's coming from too."

"Yeah, but it still sucks," Chance sighed, nuzzling Jake's neck. "At least her daughter doesn't take after her, right?" He chuckled.

"Yeah," he smiled slightly and kissed his mate. "She and Marie aren't that close either."

"I think I'm gonna call that a good thing," Chance chuckled, the two of them snuggling up for a while.

* * *

"Look, she's touchy as hell," Jake, his holo-belt on, talked as he showed Chance to the revamped Harrier. "You remember the very first VTOL on a TurboKat?"

"Yeah, she was all over the place," Chance nodded, his holo-belt concealing the lash of his tail and the way his ears flicked down a bit.

"This one is worse," Jake warned him sternly. "I did my best, but frankly, I'm amazed anyone could fly the original. She's also well below subsonic and has minimal computer support."

"Okay, forget comparing her to the TurboKat," Chance said. "How would you compare her to the old Enforcer trainers?"

"Better computer, fairly comparable in forward flight but more powerful engines, missiles only, less comfortable seat, slightly less responsive controls. Where it really differs is the takeoff and landing in VTOL and VSTOL, which you are expected to do. Even with all my improvements, she's still a lot touchier than the TurboKat ever was. It will take a ton of balancing with the stick to get her on the ground and up again. I'm going to ask you not to try flying upside down today."

"That I won't do," Chance acquiesced. "C'mon Jake; have some faith in _yourself_ , okay? You wouldn't send me up in a bird I can't take off, fly until the bolts rattle, and then land myself," he said confidently.

"No, I wouldn't," he murmured even as he reached out to grab Chance's hand and squeezed it. "But I still don't like this jet. She's not _mine_. It's been a long time since I trusted someone else's design."

"If it helps any, I don't trust it _half_ as much as something you'd put together yourself," Chance reassured him, squeezing Jake's hand back. "But look at it this way. Even if they _have_ hired us, Stark's still going to be making up his mind just how much he'll do for us today. Don't worry; I won't screw this up, and I won't let that bucket of bolts do it either."

"That I trust," Jake smiled up at him and forced his nervousness down. "That's the new Harrier," he nodded towards a brick of a single-seat jet, something more engine than anything else and decidedly not built for speed or maneuverability. "She's a close ground support design. I like the other one a lot better, but it's not VTOL and never can be."

"Gotcha," Chance nodded, getting ready to climb in. "Better head on up, Jake. I'll seeya as soon as I'm done knocking their socks off," he grinned with his usual cocky reassurance.

Meanwhile, up in the control room, Stark and Allison were watching along with the test crew and General Williams, newly arrived from Washington for the demonstration.

"That would be our pilot and the designer, going over a few last minute notes before the show," Stark informed the General. "Chance Furlong and Jake Clawson, our newest recruits in their fields."

"He's not the typical pilot build," Williams commented as he sized up the pair. "You are sure he won't pass out?"

"Quite," Stark nodded. "We do extensive physical testing before we allow someone to fly a prototype."

"Does it have a name on it?" Williams frowned as he focused on the tail section of the fuselage and the decoration there that looked like it might be text.

"Jake likes to name his projects," Allison smiled winningly. "He calls this one The DWA."

The General raised an eyebrow at her.

"The Demon-Winged-Angel," she translated.

"You'll be able to ask about it when he gets up here in a few moments," Stark offered as Chance went through his pre-flight checks and Jake started up.

"Among many other things," Williams agreed, though he only nodded to the thirty-something man that walked in and saluted him out of reflex.

"T-Bone says he's ready," Jamie, the young woman at the communication station, told them.

"Then let's get this show started," Stark said with a nod towards her as Jake approached the view window, his unease clear to all three experienced observers watching him. "Have him take off, VTOL mode."

"Yes, sir," she said and related the order.

"You do not seem very certain of this test," Williams commented.

"It's still a dicey jet, General," Jake looked at him over his shoulder. "It's much improved, but only so much can be done while restricted to the original frame."

"We're considering a number of designs for entirely new jets," Stark said, answering the General's next question. "This is just working on options for retrofitting the existing fleet."

"DWA is throttling up," Jamie offered as the engines pivoted and Chance carefully started to balance the thrust for take-off.

"That will certainly be a popular option in Washington," Williams acknowledged. "How much of that is the pilot, and how much the improvements?"

"Around fifty-fifty," Jake answered. "Chance is very good with VTOL, but he hasn't handled a Harrier before."

"What has he handled then?" The General asked curiously, glancing at Jake as Chance brought the Harrier into the air. "Osprey?"

"Mostly my designs, all prototypes," Jake told the literal truth, amused at how little cover story was required. "The Harrier isn't exactly built on the theories I use."

"I'm _almost_ more interested in your other designs now," Williams admitted as Chance finally had the jet in regular flight mode and headed out on his prescribed course. "Have you been able to improve the durability issues at all?"

"If you do see them, keep in mind that the one he has here is not viable as a production model. Cost prohibitive in the extreme," Stark warned the General smoothly. "It is, however, the foundation of a production-capable jet we are working on that should be extremely impressive."

"How long until I can see that one?" Williams raised an eyebrow, keenly interested.

"A couple years, barring a major explosion," Jake said easily, mentally giving himself three times as much time as he actually expected to need.

"For durability, I have to an extent. By improving the engine efficiency and power, I was able to upgrade the material quality. It's a heavier craft now, but it is also significantly more powerful. The payload is also much higher, or you can armor her like the A-10 into something bordering on a flying tank, though the VTOL capabilities could be lost with engine damage."

"At what projected cost?" The General asked Stark knowingly.

"Current projections say that the upgrades will cost slightly more than the annual maintenance expense, but that should come down as we have more time to work on it," Stark answered smoothly. "And that's not considering the human cost of the Harrier as it is."

He nodded and regarded the jet being taken through its paces by a pilot who clearly knew how to fly and had a talent for it.

"I'm working with two of the programming gurus here to improve the onboard computer with what I developed for my own jets," Jake added. "That isn't uploaded fully yet, but when it's ready it should dramatically improve VTOL stability," he looked at the general seriously. "There is no such beast as a stable VTOL, sir. It will never be something that any pilot can handle. These upgrades should expand your pool of potential pilots by at least two hundred percent, however."

"That's a major improvement right there," the General nodded. "You have a comm line to the pilot?"

"Yes, sir," Jamie nodded.

"Do you have a question for T-Bone?" Stark asked easily.

"What he thinks of the jet, mostly. It's easier to get an honest impression while they're flying."

"It's the second-ugliest bird I've flown, and the second hardest to take off in," T-Bone offered, overhearing the question. "Personally, I wouldn't want to take it into a dogfight, but that's not what she was built for either."

"Bring her in for a landing, T-Bone," Stark instructed him, wanting to show the improvements they'd managed for the most harrowing part of piloting the jet. "There is a clearing off your port side."

"Yes, sir," T-Bone responded and brought the jet around to head directly over the clearing. It was relatively flat, he'd definitely landed on much worse, but that had been a much better jet too. One that was a hell of a lot less complicated to get into VTOL mode too.

It was clear to everybody in the control room that Jake was doing everything he could to keep from gnawing on the desk as they waited for Chance to come to a safe landing. The directions and reminders he was muttering, mostly to himself, made it painfully clear to the General that he was used to being in the jet along with the pilot bringing it down.

Just as clear that he didn't _really_ trust the jet yet, even with his modifications. Fair enough; he'd pretty well said as much already. He could hardly blame him either. No one in their right mind really trusted a Harrier, though the visible fidgeting did mean that Jake was also not used to giving presentations.

"Throttling down," T-Bone told them, gradually bringing it in for a very, very careful landing. "And calm down Jake. She's not _that_ bad," he chided his gunner playfully.

The words seemed to do a good job of snapping Jake back into reality and he stilled himself; still uneasy, but not so obvious about it.

"I'll want one of my Harrier pilots to give her a test," Williams said. "For a real impression of the differences."

"It would be best to wait until the computer upgrades are done for that," Jake looked at him over his shoulder.

"How long should that take to be completed and tested?" He asked him. "And what effect would the software upgrade have, without the changes to the physical design?"

"It'd blow itself up," Jake said bluntly. "The engine power is radically different, the craft tolerances have changed, even exactly how the VTOL works is a bit different."

"Understood," he nodded slightly as Chance finally touched down.

"This thing is definitely not up to my usual, but it's workable," T-Bone piped up. "I'd prefer to take off with it in VSTOL mode, but VTOL isn't a complete disaster."

"Not unusual," the General nodded to himself.

"Then begin the course we laid out for you," Stark ordered. "It contains six more VTOL landings and takeoffs," he added to the General. "You should get a good feel for it by then."

"On it," Chance said, the nod nearly audible as he started to lift off, ready to do the rest of the test.

* * *

Taggart rolled his neck, cracking several vertebrae as he relaxed late that night. He normally wasn't much for TV, or for taking his downtime while there was something dangerous in the woods, but he'd spent the last week out hunting, nightly, for the animal that was responsible for the two killings. He needed a break.

He picked up a book on wolves, looking for any information he could find on man-eaters and rogues. There wasn't very much, not on man-eaters at least, but there was more on rogues ... and this one certainly counted.

"I just hope you're not the same one I've been chasin' the past few years," he muttered to himself.

"I'm not," a low growl answered from the upper landing before the hulking shape lunged down to land with a bone-jarring thud. "I will not accept interference with her."

"Bloody _Hell_!" Taggart swore, rolling out of the chair even as the hulking, wolf-man like figure swung at him and ripped the top off the recliner, sending it flying into the next wall. If his head had still been there, it would have been removed quite handily. Instead, he had a few moments to scramble towards one of his nearby weapon racks, grabbing a shotgun off the wall and spinning around, pulling the trigger without even bothering to aim. At this range he didn't need to.

It only made the beast laugh. "See she didn't tell you much," he growled before lunging forward with the blind speed of a ranging tiger.

He fired again, the second barrel going off in the creature's face at nearly point-blank range, the solid slug he kept loaded in the second barrel ripping through its jaw, shattering bone and spraying blood, muscle tissue, and teeth around the room.

That was a bit harder to ignore.

While the creature howled, Taggart dropped the shotgun and ran, grabbing a small revolver and his Desert Eagle off the rack and bolting for his saferoom.

"Okay, that hurt," the wolf-man growled in pure hatred as he recovered. "No quick death for you now."

"On that we're agreed," Taggart muttered, still running, turning at the last minute as the beast chasing him was almost on top of him. He brought the diminutive revolver up, squeezing the trigger and emptying the cheap gun into the werewolf, as he was starting to think of it.

Normally, the low-caliber bullets wouldn't have bothered it, and Taggart knew it. He also knew that he hadn't loaded this gun with normal rounds.

Instead, the light plastic Thunderzap rounds ripped into the creature, flattening out and tearing a series of massive holes through its flesh, dropping it to the floor. Taggart didn't bother to stop though; anything that could take a solid lead slug to the jaw and keep talking stood a chance of still being dangerous even after what he'd just done to it. 

The rage-filled snarls and scraping on the cement floor as the beast dragged itself up was more proof than Taggart ever wanted of that fact.

He turned around, throwing open the basement door and rushing down, practically jumping the stairs before he pulled open the heavy, armor-steel door and slipped into the room it guarded, pulling the door closed and hammering the switch that would lock it down and put in a call to the Sheriff's phone and Jo's.

"What is it?" Carter answered almost instantly, his tone more worried than irritated. He was probably still up.

"Jim?" Jo's voice answered only seconds later with the sounds of the riffle range in the background.

"I've got a giant wolf here that is _very_ unfriendly," he said, trying to keep the edge of panic off his voice as it clawed at the heavy door. The fact that he was devoutly grateful to hear Jo helped with that. "Talks, and takes bullets like most people take punches. Need you two here with the heaviest artillery you've got."

"Crap," Jo snarled, already running for her vehicle. "Where are you holed up?"

"On my way," Carter added, staying on the line for where to go as he rushed for his vehicle.

"Basement of my place," Taggart said, his eyes widening as the heavy door actually dented. "Quickly _would_ be appreciated," he added, moving to swivel around the weapons panel in the back of the room, pulling down a Jackhammer and slapping in a drum of slugs.

"We're on our way," both voices assured him quickly over the sounds of engines turning over.

"I've got some of the GDS with me," Jo added, a testament to how scared she was by what she heard. "Leave the line open."

"No problem," he muttered, flipping the selector on the Jackhammer over to full auto as the door was hammered again. The sheer force his target had to have available was downright frightening, even to him. The door had been built to handle anything up to and including rhino charge.

He was just glad the walls were reinforced to the level where they could have taken an elephant's.

"Going to have to have a word with Stark about what I need to know," he muttered to himself.

From the phone he could hear the duel sirens racing to his rescue, and the outside alarms were quickly tripped by the arriving vehicles.

It also resulted in a pause in the beating the door was taking as his attacker recognized what was going on as well.

"That's right, you walking taxidermy project," Taggart muttered. "Now go on, head out through the cellar window and _maybe_ you won't get hurt...."

Though he couldn't hear Taggart, the beast knew it was time to leave. He didn't bother with the cellar window though. Instead, he loped up the stairs, heading for the nearest door, looking to get into covered terrain as soon as he could.

Outside, Jo was in the lead, the weapon in her hands something that even the GDS officers were eyeing warily as they fell in and set up the parameter.

"Sir, you really shouldn't go in there. He's beyond a killer," Jo turned to Carter when he stepped in to follow her to the front door.

"And that's why _you're_ not going in alone," he said firmly, ready to follow her. "If that thing got you, you _really_ think Taggart wouldn't kill me instead?"

"You don't understand, Sheriff. I _can_ handle him," she insisted, gritting her teeth. "He's not the only from that project to survive."

"What proj- get down!" He shouted, pulling Jo out of the way as the thing came towards the door, barreling towards them at full tilt.

"Damnit!" Jo snarled as she went with the roll and opened fire on the creature charging the GDS line.

A massive ball of plasma filled the air, crackling up and searing the wolf-creature's flank. The GD operatives opened fire, but it was too little, too late - the beast swung at one of them, his forcefield crackling as he was picked up by the head and hurled into the woods like a rag doll.

The angry cry next to him broke Carter's attention away from everything else as he looked to his right to see Jo on the ground in a pool of blood, her side a gaping hole with shredded bone and tissue visible.

"God _damn_ it," he muttered harshly. "Watch your aim!" He shouted at the agents, keeping his own head down as the wolf took off, limping slightly and trailing blood.

"I'll get you to medical," he promised her as the agents took off to see what had happened, to the wolf and their recently hurled comrade.

"Not enough time," she hissed, her hand clutched to her side. "So many forms on this one," she said before she arched and twisted in agony enough to wrench several screams from her as her body contorted and grew, changing over several long minutes into something very much like what had just run off.

"Holy... shit!" Carter couldn't think of anything else to say. He just staggered back, eyes wide, intensely grateful that the Global goons weren't there to decide to try and kill Jo before she could do something.

When she finally stopped writhing on the ground Taggart was there, his hands on her trembling form that heaved with each painful breath. "Shu, Jo, it'll be okay," he murmured, his manner no different than when he had to handle a dangerous wounded animal of the natural kind.

"I know," she growled, still in pain but her injury healing at a visible rate. "Just give me a few minutes."

"Okay... can somebody tell me what just happened?" Carter asked dubiously.

"No," Taggart said, his tone entirely too honest about that.

"Soon," Jo gasped between breaths, her external wound healed, though she still seemed to be in pain. "So many fucking forms," she groaned. "Jaeger just went way too far."

"Hold it - that thing was Jaeger?" Carter asked.

"Same as this thing is Jo Lupo," she looked at Carter with fiery brown eyes that were very much Lupo's.

"Who's Jaeger?" Taggart asked him.

"Old lover, squad-mate, part of the same project that did this to me, jealous and possessive as all hell," Jo said quietly. "He and the others are insane. I was stable enough to stay out of the cages, even if I'm still under constant surveillance."

"He likely to try anything again tonight?" Carter asked softly, his mind already well into what he had to do to make this a state-wide, if not national, search.

Jo closed her eyes and let a deep breath out as she finally relaxed. "Depends," she told him. "On how bad he's hurt and how badly he wants me today. Probably not until near dawn at least."

"Taggart?"

"I'll take care of her," he promised. "I've got some cleaning to do anyways," he chuckled ruefully. "Bone, teeth, and plenty of blood... all of it his, thankfully."

"I'll see what I can do about getting a bigger, better equipped search team out for him," Carter reassured Jo. "We'll get him."

"If you don't, I will," she promised him and willingly accepted Taggart's assistance standing up, even though she towered over him now in every way. "He has gone _way_ too far this time."

"Interesting," Taggart murmured as he helped Jo inside.

"What?" she asked with a sigh.

"This form is wolf enough you don't have breasts," he explained. "Yet you are bipedal and clearly have your full mind and speech capabilities."

"Jim, just don't," she growled softly. "I'm not in the mood for being examined."

"Right," he said, shutting up and leading her in to his room, where she could get some rest for the night. For once, his California King sized bed was really going to be used to full extent, even if it wouldn't be the way he preferred.

* * *

Marie tossed out a paper towel quickly, cleaning up after making dinner the next night.

"Just enough time to change before he gets here," she murmured, heading up to her room... unfortunately, while she was about half-way through pulling her dress on, she heard the doorbell ring.

"Crap!" She snarled to herself, working to pull her dress on the rest of the way as she hurried out.

"Coming!" She called to Jake, getting dressed the rest of the way _just_ before reaching the door and opening it. "Hi," she smiled warmly to Jake.

"Hi," he smiled back with a deep breath she'd learned went with him smelling something he liked a great deal. "Am I early?" he asked at her rushed move to the door.

"Either that, or I took longer cleaning up than I thought," she admitted, stepping back to let him in. "So, how'd the test flight go?"

"Besides the heart attacks I was having, very well," he chuckled. "Chance took it a lot better than I did, but the General was impressed, and I think Stark was too, given how long I worked on it."

"Hey, that's always a good thing," she smiled. "Hard to impress Stark," she added seriously. "I hope meatloaf works for dinner?" She asked hopefully, leading the way into the small dining room.

"Hard to go wrong with something called meat," he grinned at her. "Doesn't sound like something Vincent would willingly make though."

"I think the last person to order it from him got chased out of town," she giggled. "Tourist, had no clue where he was. No, I made this up myself," she explained, bringing out two plates of food, mashed potatoes and dressing next to the thick slices of meat. "Thought something homemade might go over well," she smiled.

"Very," he breathed deeply of the fragrant meat concoction and sat down. "It's been years since I had anything homemade that I didn't cook."

"Chance is a typical bachelor, huh?" Marie giggled, snapping her fingers as she remembered drinks. "Milk work, or would you like something else?"

"I'm not exactly much of a cook, but I can manage not to burn water," Jake chuckled. "Milk works, so does just about anything else," he said honestly. "I'm not that picky."

"Okay," she smiled, heading out and bringing two large glasses of milk back out. "I've got to keep my protein and calcium levels up pretty high," she explained. "So that's why I usually go for this sort of thing."

"Where are you going to be when the dramatic changes start?" he asked quietly as she sat down.

"Probably either here or at work," she said easily. "It'll depend on how long it is before the last dose before that kicks in. I'll be staying here through most of it, probably... is there something wrong?"

"Am I going to be welcome when it starts?" he asked, honestly uncertain.

"I'd be glad to have you around," she smiled warmly. "I just might not always be the best company."

"After what I've nursed Chance through, I think I can handle it," Jake assured her. "It's not my way to leave my friends to hurt alone."

"Just remember, this is hurting that isn't going to kill me," she chuckled. "I _will_ be glad for the company, I'm sure," she smiled. "With any luck, it won't even be as bad as we're expecting."

"Well, it's hardly fair to only be around when you're having good times, is it?" Jake cocked his head. "If it gets bad, maybe you should move in with us, have someone around if you need it."

"Oh, my Mom'd just _love_ to hear about that happening," she chuckled, shaking her head a bit. "Maybe if it starts getting bad enough that I need somebody around, but it's not really fair to interrupt both your lives for that long with something like that."

"Your mother already hates me," Jake shrugged, though his front didn't manage well. "You'll probably get a lecture on it soon."

"Ah crap," Marie sighed. "What happened?"

"She was quizzing me on my education and I kind of lost my temper," he murmured. "Told her what I do for a living back home. It didn't go over well."

"And most people think their _fathers_ are trouble," she muttered, shaking her head. "How bad was it, really?"

"Well, Chance rather forcibly escorted her out of the house. She really didn't take knowing I'm a junkyard mechanic well, even with all the degrees I have here," he sighed and leaned back in his chair. "I could have handled it better, really, but it's a sore subject at best and I didn't like how she talked about you."

"What did she say about me?" Marie asked, raising an eyebrow.

"She didn't approve of anything," he tried to answer. "Not your choice on how to live, what to study, the transformation ... she even brought up a hypothetical question about you going to MKC if you could and was irritated when I pointed out you are an adult and if you want to go, it's your choice to. Still don't know where that question came from," he muttered, his tail flicking in open irritation. "So much focus on titles instead of people."

"I think I'm going to have to have a talk with Mother," Marie muttered. Her ears would have been flat and her tail lashing if she'd been feline enough for it to happen. "Jake, neither I, nor my father, care about any of the things she does."

"You're the only one that really matters, Marie," he said quietly. "I was kind of expecting family issues, just not because of what I did for a living back home," he sighed. "You wouldn't have gotten a warm welcome by my kin either."

"Because I'm not a kat, or something else?" She asked him gently.

"In a round-about way," he nodded. "As the only fertile member of my family left, there's a _lot_ of concern that I have kits while I still can. If they dared to disown me, having a male mate and no real interest in females would have done it. Pretty much only been invited to funerals since then."

"Ouch," she sighed, shaking her head. "Well... I suppose it _might_ be possible with me, after the transformation, but it isn't until then."

"I am _so_ not ready to go there," Jake nearly squirmed out of his chair. "We aren't even lovers yet."

"I wasn't trying to go there," she reassured him. "Just saying it because... well, it sounded like something that mattered to you," she admitted.

"Right, right," he murmured, mostly to himself to calm down along with several deep breaths. "Sorry Marie. I've had that kind of talk go really bad before."

"Sorry," she said apologetically. "Mmm ... so, finish dinner, and find a new topic?" She suggested with a bit of a smile.

"Yeah," he nodded and forced himself to settle down, his fur still a bit fluffed as he began to eat again. "What movie did you find for tonight?"

"I was thinking of Kaze, Ghost Warrior," she smiled. "It's all CGI, but I think you'll _really_ like it."

"Haven't heard of it, but it already sounds interesting," he grinned and pushed the last of his panic attack away. "Maybe dance a bit too, before the movie?"

"If you like martial arts flicks, it'll work," she smiled and turned her attention back to her meal. "And sure, sounds good to me."

* * *

Cindy double-checked her choice of music and lighting, then drew a long curtain in front of her playroom, concealing the cushions and decorations inside with a grin on her face.

Chance was due over soon, and she was _definitely_ looking forward to something a little new tonight. She was sure he had a kinky streak wide enough to indulge what she had in mind.

A light knock on the door soon took her away from fussing to answer it.

"Hi, Cindy," Chance, appearing human, greeted her with a warm smile.

"Hi," she smiled back, stepping back into the house. "C'mon in; I'm guessing that Jake didn't feed you before he hustled out?" She teased.

"He's over at Marie's tonight, but no, I haven't eaten," he chuckled and stepped inside, waiting for her to close the door before he turned off his holo-belt. "Something sure smells good."

"I hope that means you like curried chicken and rice," she asked him hopefully.

"Oh yeah," he grinned wider and followed her into the dinning room where the meal was laid out. "You definitely know how to treat a guy."

"Wait until the after-dinner entertainment," she winked. "Mmm... I hope you're not shy about making home movies?"

"Not usually," he raised an eyebrow. "Only requirement is that I get a copy."

"I can arrange that," she grinned, bringing out a couple plates of fragrant, spicy rice and meat, and a jug that smelled powerfully of alcohol and something else familiar.

"Koumiss," she answered before he could ask. "It's sort of a milk-wine. Had to go through Vincent to get my hands on it," she chuckled.

"Smell's potent," he purred and accepted the poured glass. "More than most fermented milk drinks back home."

"I suspect that he has a source that makes it different from what I've read," she nodded and took a glass of her own. "What I read said it was supposed to be pretty weak, but this isn't. At any rate, I hope you like it," she smiled as they started to eat, occasionally taking sips of the slightly sour drink to cut the spiciness.

"So, the test-flight went well?" She asked him between bites, when he paused to drink himself, much more willing to drink deeply.

"Nerve-racking," he chuckled. "Probably harder on Jake than me, but it went well. The General was impressed, and there wasn't a single glitch to speak of."

"That's what Eureka calls an unqualified success," she nodded approvingly. "I'll bet Jake just about gnawed his claws off," she teased lightly.

"Pretty much," Chance chuckled with fond amusement at his partner. "He had to stay in the control room and watch. Just about went crazy. Though to be fair, I wouldn't have faired much better if he'd gone up without me."

Though to be fair, I wouldn't have fared much better if he'd gone up without me."

"Of course not, that's what being together's about," she smiled. "At least when I have to test fly something, I get to stay on the ground."

"How does that work?" he cocked his head curiously at her, actually interested in the concept, if a bit bewildered by it.

"My specialty is surveillance systems," she said easily. "Most of my remote systems are just that - remotes. I pilot them from my lab while the mucky-mucks watch. I've actually done some work on near-orbital spy platforms," she bragged slightly. "Now _those_ are a bitch to fly unmanned."

"It's not much easier when you're there," Chance pointed out with a chuckle. "Though space is worse by a lot."

"Hang on. You've been in space?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. "As in, flying in space?"

"Fought there too," he nodded. "The TurboKat's capable of reaching the moon, maybe further."

"You and Jake just became Henry's new best friends," Cindy chuckled, shaking her head. "He's been trying to get a space plane design approved for decades."

"Oh, he fell in love with that jet a while ago," Chance laughed easily. "Once he got a look into the bomb bay that's bigger on the inside than the outside. Just about jumped Jake trying to get an answer on how that happened."

"That's... a mental image I didn't need," Cindy decided after a moment.

"Not that kind of 'jumped'," he snickered. "But I have to agree with you on the mental image."

"Mmm ... so, happier subjects than Henry naked?" Cindy teased as she ate. "What sort of kinks do you have?"

"Bondage, dom/sub, a bit of pain with the right partner," he considered it a bit more. "Nothing very extreme, but I like most things that feel good."

"You like being the dom, or the sub more?" She asked with a slight smile, hoping she'd guessed right.

"Dom," he chuckled and took a drink of the koumiss. "Subbing can be fun too, but it's not my usual thing."

"Good," she grinned. "I've got something special lined up for after dinner then."

"Oh really?" he leaned forward eagerly. "Something more than just screwing our brains out?"

"Mmm ... a _little_ more," she teased, leaning forward to kiss his feline nose playfully. "You'll see soon," she winked.

"After dinner?" he asked with a chuckle.

"Yep," she nodded, the two of them working to finish just a little more quickly.

"So ... what's this extra fun?" Chance asked before finishing his koumiss.

"Are you familiar with the Arabian Nights, or anything like that from your world?" She asked him.

"You mean like belly dancers, harems and silks that don't conceal anything?" He rumbled, already excited by the idea of where this was going.

"Mmm ... I think that's a pretty accurate description," she grinned. "All _very_ focused on pleasing whoever they're supposed to," she winked.

"Sounds very fun," he grinned at her and stood. "Especially since I do enjoy watching my playthings come, among other things."

"Ooh, good," she grinned back, taking his hand. "Mmm... then if the Sultan will come with me, I'll show him to his harem... and his costume."

"This should be interesting," he chuckled and willingly followed her to her playroom.

She slid the light curtain aside, revealing a richly decorated room with cushions and other accents there that made it look like something straight out of the Arabian Nights. She led him in, turning him around and pointing at a changing screen.

"You'll find your things behind that," she rumbled. "Don't bother putting anything on beneath the pants," she winked before letting him go.

"No problem," he chuckled and went to check out what he was going to be wearing, at least for a while. Rich fabric decorated with gold and silver thread and high quality fake gems. "Not my usual style," he chuckled and made quick work of changing clothing.

"I'm not surprised," Cindy called from where she was changing. "I'm just going to let you know, the whole room is wired for video. You _will_ get a copy," she promised. "I just _really_ like being watched."

"And watching reruns when you can't get the real thing, I bet," Chance teased her easily. "You and Jake have that one in common."

"Mmm... tell me if you mind the idea when I'm done changing," she said, a teasing smirk in her voice as she draped her bra over the top of the screen.

"Not at all," he laughed. "Just come on out."

"Just a minute," she teased, coming out a few moments later, dressed in pale blue silks that really didn't hide anything, darker above her sex and breasts. Her red hair cascaded down her shoulders, coming down over a light shawl that she had wrapped around herself. Her feet were bare, tiny anklets jingling as she moved towards him seductively.

"Does Sultan approve?" She smiled, her eyes half-lidded as she approached him.

"Mmm, definitely," he openly eyed her. "Does my new girl have any skills to go with her looks?"

"Of course she does," she grinned, eyes twinkling as she led him into the room, guiding him to a stack of soft cushions. "One Tanya Zumbrowski gave me a few lessons after I hooked her up with a new filming rig," she winked, heading over towards the door and pushing the button to start the cameras. "And I'm sure you'll become familiar with her work if you stick around here long enough," she chuckled.

"Sounds like I should enjoy this," he purred deep in his chest and relaxed, his legs spread and his arousal obvious enough beneath the silks. "Show me what you can do."

"Yes Master," she said with a sultry smile, starting into an slow dance that moved her hips and hands in a suggestive manner. It' made the bangles she was wearing jingle with each beat of the exotic music that started to play.

It was definitely a feast for the eyes. The seductive nature of the dance mixed with the desire of the woman performing it was more than enough to make Chance begin to lightly stroke himself though the silken pants he was dressed in.

"Mmm ... Master shouldn't have to pleasure himself," Cindy cooed, removing the silk shawl and dancing towards him. "Not when he has me around, at least," she nearly purred, lowering herself to her knees, stroking his crotch lightly with her fingertips.

He licked his whiskers back and unwound the silken belt to open his pants and allow her to do as she pleased.

"Oooh, Master is _very_ eager tonight," she said teasingly, guiding his shaft out of his pants, already hard as a rock as she started to lick at his tip and shaft tenderly, lavishing each and every one of his soft, rubbery barbs with attention, licking, nibbling, and suckling at them lightly. The deep moans that rewarded her efforts made her smile, as did the bitter trickle of pre that he offered up.

"Oh yeah," he reached out to caress her head, a move she was sure on another kat would involve sensitive ears and a return of some pleasure. He also brought his tail up to caress her crotch, encouraging her with some returned pleasure.

She rumbled, taking him into her mouth, bobbing her head up and down as she moaned softly, spreading her legs to give him easy access to the moistening silks covering her mound. She couldn't help but wonder if this was a skill he knew or if it was just something he did.

He shuddered and groaned, his hips rocking up as his balls began to draw close to his body. "Oh yeah, just like that," he said, his hand on the back of her head. Though he didn't really force her down, the symbolic control was exciting to them both.

She reached between his legs, fondling his balls with a soft, submissive whimper. She rolled her eyes up to look into his, grinning around his cock as she got ready to swallow his seed.

His eyes closed and his hips bucked up to shoot the first load of gooey semen into her mouth.

She drank his seed down as well as she could, gagging a bit before pulling back, swallowing the last mouthful, a bit of it dribbling from her lips before she licked it up.

"Mmm ... would Master like me to return to my dance?" She asked him with a low, sultry rumble.

He considered her, hunger open in his expression. "Yes, I think so. For now."

"Whenever Master wishes something else, he should tell me," she grinned, backing off and returning to the dance, a bit faster now, her hands moving down along her sides, up her front, caressing herself and her visibly damp silks, her scent incredibly heavy in the air, coaxing Chance's cock to hardness again almost instantly.

"Pleasure yourself, girl." He ordered and even managed to refrain from stroking himself. "Make a show of yourself."

"As you wish," she rumbled, undoing the clasps that held the silks covering her crotch, letting the blue fabric flutter to the ground before she took the long, silk shawl, flipping it into a long, slender tube of fabric, guiding it between her legs and pulling it up against her pussy, moaning softly as she started to work it between her legs, rubbing against her clit and swollen pussy-lips, soaking it with her juices and scent, gradually working herself closer to Chance, letting him get a potent noseful of her arousal.

"Oh yeah," he shivered in appreciation of the sight and scent of her. "Make yourself scream, girl."

"Oooh... yes, Master," she murmured, throwing her head back with a lusty moan, making a shamelessly obscene and erotic display of herself, legs spread wide as she worked herself towards and orgasm. Before long, her juices were dripping down her quivering thighs, her legs shaking a bit as she fought to keep her feet.

"M-may I come, Master?" She asked him with a soft, needy whimper.

"Kneel before me and come," he rumbled and leaned forward to watch closely and smell every trace of what was going on.

She knelt submissively, drawing the silk shawl up along her clit from one end to the other. Her head fell back and she let a heavenly moan out, her body arching and trembling as an orgasm rippled through her body, soaking the last few inches of silk with her juices as she panted softly.

"You please me," he rumbled as he stood and grabbed her, twisting around to push her onto the cushions and pulled the shawl out of the way so he could bury himself into her still-quivering body. He pushed her legs even further apart and began to pound into her with a lusty growl.

She moaned happily, wrapping her legs around him and rippling the walls of her sex along his barbed length, savoring the feel of his barbs as they rubbed against her g-spot skillfully. . It was a sensation that simply couldn't be matched for its exotic nature and she soon sobbed as the spiraling pleasure threatened to take her again.

"Come all you want, scream all you want," Chance growled hotly. "I'm going to fuck you until you beg for me to stop."

"Thank you M-M-Master!" She screamed, coming hard, her body clenching down as she milked his cock, her body hungry for what he was all too eager to give it.

* * *

As the credits rolled on the movie Jack and Marie were both still awake and snuggled up just as closely as the last time.

"So, did you like it?" She asked Jake with a smile.

"Yes," he smiled and nuzzled her, his body aching to be inside her. It was a desire he ignored, but knew that she could feel it all the same. "That Tiger is seriously hot stuff."

To be fair, she was feeling her own version of it pretty strongly.

"You want to stay here tonight?" She offered hopefully. "Bed's big enough for two, we wouldn't have to do anything... but I like snuggling with you, and don't really want the crick in my back the sofa leaves," she giggled.

"I ... I think I'd like that," he smiled down at her and breathed in her intoxicating scent. "You ... ummm ... have a nightgown or something?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "Been a while since I wore it, but I think the moths have left enough of it behind," she teased lightly, kissing him gently. "I'll go change, then show you the way?"

"Sure," he licked her cheek and let her go. It left him feeling cold and lonely, but he had plenty to look forward to as he watched her walk out of the room. He also had a thought that it might be a bright idea to go to the bathroom and deal with his erection before he was in bed with her and had little on. "Marie ... I'm hitting the restroom first," he called out and stood to head for the spare one she wouldn't be using.

"Okay," she called back before he disappeared into the second bathroom.

He undid his belt and slipped his pants down with a groan for the cool air that wafted lightly over his heated, swelling crotch.

"What you do to me without trying," he groaned and sat on the toilet, his hand wrapped around his full, hard erection. As much as he wanted to savor the pleasure drenched in her scent, he stroked himself hard, willingly giving in to the base need.

His fingers glided along his shaft, slick with pre and need. He knew it wasn't going to take long at all, not like this.

He shuddered, his balls tight against his body and shifted so he wouldn't be hit when he came. With a low groan his ass clenched along with his hand and the first shot of gooey come shot from his cock.

His seed shot into the toilet, pearly globs splashing down as he managed not to make much of a mess, just a little bit on his hands that could be washed away easily. He shuddered and leaned back against the wall, savoring the feeling for a few moments before he went to clean up. Even if he couldn't get all the scent off himself, he could make it a good bit less noticeable with the strongly scented soaps humans seemed to prefer.

Even with all the time he took, Marie was still absent when he came out and sat back down on the couch, dressed and trying to act like he hadn't just jerked off in her bathroom thinking about her touching him instead.

He was just starting to wonder what she was changing _into_ when she came back out, looking slightly flushed beneath her short fur, a faint hint of arousal still hanging around her despite the fact that he thought she had just showered.

Well, maybe he hadn't been the only one to think about winding down before bed.

"Sorry to take so long," she said a little sheepishly. "Wanted to grab a shower before bed."

"No problem," he stood and drew her into am embrace and kiss before letting her go. "I'm afraid we'll have to deal with underwear for me. I don't have anything else."

"It's okay," she smiled. "Honestly? I like the way you feel," she admitted, blushing slightly. "C'mon, bedroom's this way," she offered, leading the way to a bedroom decorated in a mixture of animal lover, furry alien erotica and awards.

"Are you an artist as well?" Jake took in what he was sure was several original works of art that would rival the best professional productions from MegaKat City's adult industry.

"No, just very well paid," she admitted. "Hit a lot of auctions and commission a few artists once in a while. If you're curious, that's the best guess of what I'll look like once I'm done changing," she said, indicating a small painting of a attractive light brown tabby she-Cat with blond hair and a second, smaller pair of breasts. She was lightly covered by a silk sheet that _barely_ concealed what was necessary to make the picture suitable for public viewing.

"Different," he murmured, considering the image. "I've heard that multiple sets of breasts were likely on early felinoids, but I haven't seen anything like it."

"We're not sure if it'll happen for me either, but it seems likely as not," she admitted, moving to snuggle up behind him. "Mmm ... you're wearing too much to come to bed," she teased lightly, unbuttoning his shirt and nuzzling his neck.

"Yes," he drew in a sharp breath and arched back into the contact, his body stiff and eager under her touch.

"Shh," she murmured, pulling his shirt off and began undoing his belt and pants, her hands lingering on his thighs just a bit longer than necessary. "Jake...? If you're not comfortable, at any point tonight, just lemme know, okay?" She said softly. "I'll go out to the couch."

"I ... I will," he promised as he caught his breath and found a measure of self control again before he turned around to pull her close for a heated, lingering kiss. "You are incredible, Marie," he said softly.

"You are too, Jake," she smiled, kissing him again. "Mmm... c'mon... get those pants off and let's get some sleep, before we decide to do more than snuggle."

"I don't think I'd regret it," he said softly and shifted back a bit to remove his shoes, socks, pants and undershirt, leaving him in only a pair of briefs that did nothing to conceal how aroused he was despite his earlier efforts.

It took a _lot_ of effort on Marie's part not to offer to help him with that as they both laid down in bed and she kissed him softly.

"Sleep well," she smiled, reaching up to turn the lights out from the dimmer switch above the bed.

She began to purr deeply when he wrapped his arms around her and drew her close, his arousal against her thigh and ass, but with no intention of doing anything about it.

"Yes," he kissed her neck. "Marie, have you thought about the future, what kind of relationship this'll be?" he asked softly.

"A little," she admitted, snuggling back against him. "But most of it's up to you. I... _think_ I know how far I'm willing to go, but I don't want to push you away."

"Okay," he almost chuckled and nuzzled her. "Do you want to just be with me, or is a triad with Chance an option?"

"Mmm... it's an option," she smiled. "Though I might have to fight to pull him away from Cindy once in a while. Girl's just about officially converted to liking fur and... other things," she giggled. "You think he'd be interested?"

"I haven't asked, but he hasn't met a female he wouldn't screw," he chuckled fondly. "It's more than that, though," he sobered a fair bit. "Triads are a family, you'd probably move in with us eventually, sleep in the same bed as both of us. The other common arrangement doesn't preclude you from sleeping with Chance or both of us, but you'd live on your own. It ... can be complicated," he admitted.

"I'll bet," she nodded slightly. "It's not something that I'd want to jump into, but I'm willing to try," she said, reaching up and squeezing his hand, holding it against her chest.

"I don't need a final answer now," he purred softly and nuzzled her as he spread his fingers to intertwine his with hers. "Just an idea of what kind of future we're considering. Not everyone who wants to be with someone wants to be with their mate too."

"Mmm... have to think about it," she smiled, pressing back against him and holding his hand tightly. "And I'll have you know that if I have any _very_ pleasant dreams tonight, I'm blaming you," she teased.

"If you do, maybe you'll share them," he smiled back and relaxed in the bed, more than willing to sleep spooned around this woman that had stolen his heart the way only Chance had before.

* * *

"Shouldn't you be resting?" Taggart looked up to see Jo in werewolf form as she headed for his kitchen.

"I'm healed," she shook her head, her voice guttural in this form. "Hungry. Healing and changing takes a lot out of me."

"What kind of food do you need?" he asked as he came into the kitchen to see her going for meats, cheese, milk ... and everything else.

"Protein, carbs, fat and a lot of calories," she looked over her shoulder at him. "You'll be reimbursed."

"That I'm not worried about," he sounded a bit exasperated. "Come on, I think have something that might be just what you need downstairs. I developed it for a fast-growing breed of great dane."

"Should work," she rumbled and trotted along on all fours easily despite being biped capable. "Did he say anything to you while he was trying to kill you?" she asked as he opened a hundred gallon bin with filled with dog food.

"Something about not letting me interfere with 'her,'" Taggart nodded and watched as she downed the rich food as quickly as she could. "You, I'd guess? There was also something about not getting a quick death, but since I'd just blown half his jaw off, I'm not reading too much into that," he tried to joke.

"You're right, on both counts," she nodded, food falling from her mouth here and there.

"So, I'm guessing this psychopath didn't take the breakup well. You said something about him being in lockup?"

"There were eight of us who started. Five survived the process. The four guys weren't stable enough to remain on the loose, so they are kept in a secure facility until a mission comes up where they'd be useful. I came out of it with my mind mostly intact and a fair amount of self-control in crinos, this half-wolf form, so they keep me here instead," she shrugged.

"So you _were_ the one I was following over the past few years?" He asked, hoping to confirm his suspicions at least.

"Most likely," she nodded and gratefully went for the trough of water he filled for her. "I don't remember a lot when it's not a voluntary transformation, and those aren't."

"You usually can control it though, right?" He asked, trying to put together just what was going on.

"Usually," she nodded, her fur dark with water and crumbs. "I'm still kind of surprised I didn't change when those flowers affected me. I guess I was just feeling good, instead of angry, that day."

"Thank God for that," he mused. "So... what was it you meant about 'so many forms'?"

"The paperwork this is going to generate is a nightmare," she rolled her eyes and went for a second bin of food. "We have three forms. Human, crinos and wolf. Stuff tastes terrible, but it's just what I need right now."

"I think the paperwork can wait until _after_ he's been taken down," Taggart said dryly. "And sorry about the taste work on that later too. Jo... don't take this the wrong way, but how do you kill one of you?"

"You have to do enough damage that there isn't enough of a body to regenerate," she looked at him seriously, her triangular ears drooping a bit. "Not just enough to kill, but enough to take out the head and chest -- _all_ the vital organs -- and do it within a minute or so. I've seen one of us survive a direct anti-tank missile, I've taken a fifty-caliber bullet to the head, Jaeger survived an inferno that left him burned down to the bone just for highlights. None of those took more than a couple hours to recover from. Even the plasma gun I had wouldn't have killed him, but if I got two or three good shots in I could have slowed him down enough to finish him off as he tried to heal. Loup Garou aren't invulnerable, but we're damn close to it for a killing machine."

"And Stark thought _I_ was an idiot," Taggart muttered, shaking his head.

"About what?" she cocked her head slightly, finally feeling rather normal again.

"First rule of playing around with monsters," Taggart chuckled grimly. "Make damned sure you can kill it _before_ it gets dangerous."

"We were already dangerous," she pointed out. "Our abilities to kill and hunt were why we were selected. What I can do now has nothing to do with the program; I was that capable before. Everyone in the program was special forces of some kind and just as deadly, if not more so. They just made us unstoppable and gave us better natural weapons."

"It's the 'unstoppable' problem that I'm thinking about," Taggart pointed out. "Some sort of control mechanism is just about mandatory for this sort of thing." As he shrugged, Jo's cell phone started to ring.

"They assumed our training and loyalty," she shrugged in return. "Jo here. Yes, sir, I'm fine. Right away." She looked at Taggart. "Cleanup will have to wait. The debriefing is now."

"I'll drive," Taggart offered, starting out for his car.

* * *

"Sheriff Carter, Alison," Stark looked up in a bit of surprise to see them at such an hour. "What can I do for you?"

"That wolf-critter you told Taggart was 'need to know'?" Carter said. "We need to know. One of them, Carl Jaeger according to Jo, just attacked Taggart's compound and killed one of your SWAT operatives, despite the fact that he was wearing that force field thing."

"How did -"

"Grabbed him by the head and threw," Carter explained. "From the sound of it, the field doesn't do much about getting your neck broken from your body flying through tree branches."

"Mmm, we'll have to look into that," Stark said to himself.

"Stark, the project?" Alison pressed.

"Well, I'm afraid that I don't know very much about that regardless," he admitted. "As I told Taggart, it was before my time, and I didn't particularly need to know either, at the time. Is Jaeger still on the loose?"

"Yeah, with an APB out on him and the rest of the squad chasing."

"Well, I certainly hope _they_ catch up with him before some normal law enforcement personnel," Stark muttered. "Really, Carter, what were you thinking? Do you really think that anybody from outside this jurisdiction is actually capable of bringing him in?"

"Better that they are _aware_ he's a heavily armed psychopath on the loose than have them stumble across him," Carter shot back.

"From the sound of it, he isn't particularly dangerous unless he thinks you're a threat," Stark pointed out, starting to look for the report on the project from his workstation. "We'll just have to hope that he stays around here. By the way, where _is_ deputy Lupo?" He asked, raising an eyebrow curiously. She normally would have been here for something related to this.

"Recovering from getting a six inch hole blown in her chest by one of your goons with bad aim," Carter informed him. "She'll be fine," he glanced at his watch. "By now, if what I've seen is any indication. Though I doubt Taggart has let her out yet."

"You _have_ to be joking," Stark said, turning to face him, clearly unable to believe that sort of regenerative rate.

"Not even close," Carter told him bluntly. "It was sealed by the time I left. It took her almost as long to transform than to heal over. Now ... what the _Hell_ are we hunting?"

"A werewolf, by my guess," Stark opened up the report on the project. "A genetically re-constructed shapeshifter... very impressive," he murmured, skimming over the information available. "I'll have to bring Dr. Jean Moreau in on this, and Lupo. They're the people around here who know the most about the project."

"Well get him here," Allison all but ordered Stark.

"I'm calling already," Carter cut her off from ordering him to contact Jo as well.

"It'll take a while before Jean is here," Stark said after a moment on the phone. "He actually went home before midnight for once."

"So how much damage does it say one of these things can take?" Carter asked as the phone rang. "Jo, good. You're okay now? Good. We need you and Taggart at Stark's office ASAP. Briefing on this mess is going down."

"More than anything you're cleared for can dish out," Stark said idly, flipping through the overview. "Unless you have a high-end flamethrower on hand... Moreau outdid himself this time."

"So how dangerous is this guy before you tack on the unstoppable killing machine angle?" Carter asked.

"He used to be one of Deputy Lupo's squadmates, and according to his dossier tended to outperform her in many fields."

"That's... pretty dangerous," Carter agreed somberly. "So is there any good news about the fact we've got to find a way to bring him down?"

"No, not really," Stark admitted. "This is pretty close to a black ops crew's worst nightmare."

"Well, glad one of us is staying optimistic," Carter muttered.

"There must be a failsafe in there," Allison insisted. "No project like this is ever authorized without at least one."

"There is," a man behind her said. "Though they are unaware of it."

"Ah, Dr. Moreau," Stark greeted him with a nod. "Now it is just Lupo and Taggart."

"Yes... I assume that one of the Garou has become more problematic than usual?" The old doctor asked, taking a seat.

"Yeah," Carter nodded. "One of them tried to kill Taggart, did kill one of GD's agents, and probably responsible for the two 'wild dog' killings in the past few weeks."

"Wild dog killings?" Dr. Moreau asked, looking over at Stark with an expression somewhere between confused and stern.

"There was no connection drawn between them and the sightings," Stark admitted.

"This is very bad... do you know which one it is? Not Deputy Lupo, or you wouldn't be nearly this calm about it."

"Carl Jaeger," Allison offered.

"This is _very_ bad," Moreau murmured, folding his fingers while they waited for Jo and Taggart to arrive.

"What kind of failsafe is this?" Carter asked intently.

"An implant they each carry that is capable is killing them if it is signaled," the older man explained in the most basic terms. "It is primarily and tracking and data collection device, similar to the one used in your physical, Sheriff, but with a few extras added.

"It would probably be a good idea to trigger it then," Stark said simply. "Set off Jaeger's. We can find the pieces later."

"With all due respect, Nathan, I need orders from somebody higher up than you before I can do that," Moreau said seriously. "The red tape for the Lycos Project goes well beyond Eureka. Tracking information, however, I can and will supply."

"How about some information on how we can kill that thing with what we actually have available," Carter asked.

"You would have to destroy all major organs, including the brain, heart, lungs, and a variety of others, before they could regenerate them," Dr. Moreau explained. "Flamethrower would be best, with explosives as a near second. High trauma weaponry; wounds won't do the job, unless they're intended to slow them down long enough to really kill them."

"Okay, how is that _possible_?" Carter asked dubiously.

"Large amounts of adrenaline, genetic reconstruction, rapid stem-cell reproduction; I could go into details, but I think we'd like to finish this before next June," the old Doctor said dryly.

"And one of these things is my deputy?" Carter muttered in shock, mostly to himself.

"Yes," Jo said firmly as she and Taggart joined the briefing.

"Well, now that we're all here, maybe we can start on the briefing?" Stark asked Dr. Moreau, leaning back.

"Well, I'm going to assume that you're all familiar with the basics of the Lycos project," he said, standing up to address the group. "The idea was to take a number of human agents, highly trained and combat capable, and to give them the additional strength, speed, and heightened senses of a wolf. The wolf was chosen because the pack drive would go well with the pre-existing relationship among many combat units. Ultimately, eight were chosen, among them Carl Jaeger and Jo Lupo," he said, nodding towards Jo in acknowledgement.

"Five survived to the end," he continued. "Four were deemed too unstable to remain in the general population, but the group remained together as a team for three years. Then Lupo was assigned here while the others remained in their original arrangement."

Carter glanced at Jo, the question obvious but unspoken.

"Their hormones got the better of them," she shrugged. "By the time the beatings were over, it was decided that co-ed packs were a bad idea."

"That was something that was supposed to stay under control," Dr. Moreau said softly, honest and sincere regret in his voice as he looked at Jo. "Further, it was decided that it was unnecessary for her to be in the same sort of lockup the others were," he said, more loudly. "It quickly became apparent that most of the survivors, whether due to pre-existing defects, the treatments, or both, were exhibiting pronounced psychopathic and sociopathic tendencies. This is why I wish that almost any of them _but_ Jaeger were the ones we were dealing with," he admitted.

"He's the most dominant of the pack," Jo filled in. "It means he's more aggressive than anyone else. He's also the only of us that really got off on killing, even before the project. There is no way to exaggerate how bad this is going to be for the hunters. He's brilliant, vicious, aggressive, big and very, very angry right now."

"How much danger is the town in?" Carter focused on the general population.

"If he decides to go after them, there is no real way to protect anyone," she said evenly. "This facility might work, but even its security is questionable against Jaeger in the long run."

"It's been upgraded significantly since he came here last," Stark protested.

"So has Jaeger," Moreau pointed out. "The holograms won't fool his sense of smell, and the guards don't have anything that will do more than slow him down. But I'm more worried about the town as well. I would recommend a curfew, and enforcing it as well as possible. Not martial law, but making it clear that there _is_ something out there, and that being out after dark _is_ dangerous. Anybody seeing Jaeger should know to tell law enforcement, and to go the other way. There are a number of devices around Eureka that could help to stop him, but none of them are commonly available."

"Agreed," Jo nodded. "There are two here in Eureka that actually have a fair amount of experience with this kind of situation," she said a little uneasily. "Clawson and Furlong have been taking care of things as bad as Jaeger for years and they have most of their equipment here. Even if they can only slow him down, that jet and its weapons would be useful."

"If he starts to attack the town in general, it's worth looking into," Stark acknowledged. "If he stays in the woods for now, I'd rather try to take him down with something a little less flamboyant, possibly take him prisoner."

"That's a tall order," Dr. Moreau reminded him. "The intent was that 'less flamboyant' _wouldn't_ kill them."

"From all I've seen, Dr. Stark, less flamboyant will kill him, but those two won't." She glared at him levelly, for once giving Stark the distinct feeling of being intimidated on a gut level. "If _I_ catch him, there won't be enough left to do a DNA test on the bastard."

"I expect your security guys feel the same," Carter added dryly.

"I still want to at least _try_ and handle this without calling them in," Stark said firmly. "If the town proper is _actively_ endangered, then we'll consider bringing them in. Try to remember that these two are aliens that have not been here a month yet. We have weapons that will take out even a creature as quick-healing as these Loup Garou," he went to work on his desk, calling up several finished projects. "Go to the armory. You will have the best equipment Global Dynamics has to offer."

"Ah, Deputy Lupo, if I could have a few words with you before you go," Dr. Moreau called out softly, following her out of the room as they went to collect the gear.

"Yes, Dr. Moreau?" she looked at him attentively even as she waved the others on.

"I just wanted to say, I'm sorry for all the trouble this has caused you," he said seriously. "Professionally and personally."

"Thank you," she nodded briefly. "I did volunteer for the project," she reminded him. "All things considered, it did not go that badly for me."

"I know," he nodded. "I just wish it had gone better."

"So do I," she admitted. "But right now, I had to concentrate on stopping Jaeger."

"We'll each do it our own way," he nodded. "Good luck; I have a few ideas I'm going to to check on in the lab." With that, he turned, heading back for a long night on his computer.

* * *

Marie woke slowly to the incredibly pleasant feeling of a strong, softly furred chest against hers and his arms still wrapped around her. At some point in the night Jake had rolled to his back and she'd rolled over to rest half on top of him. It was an extremely pleasant position to wake up in.

She smiled to herself and wrapped her arms around his strong, furry body with a happy purr. This felt so good; it was well worth all the frustration of denying their arousal. He was such a sweet man, concerned for those he cared for and not wanting to rush into sex despite her willingness and his own desire. It reminded her of one of the few things she really agreed with her mother on; it was best to be friends first, then become lovers.

She shook her head slightly, discarding thoughts of her mother and the talk they'd be having later.

This was _not_ a time to be thinking about fights.

Instead, she kissed Jake's neck tenderly, inhaling his scent. Her sense of smell was getting stronger, and she was picking up subtleties now that were starting to mean 'Jake' to her.

"Mmmm?" he made a sound and shifted slightly to rub her back.

"Did I wake you?" She asked him softly, nuzzling his neck with a happy smile, her thigh pressing against the erection beneath his briefs lightly.

It was _almost_ an accident.

"Maybe," he nuzzled her affectionately and ran his hands down her back. "Did you have any good dreams?"

"Mmm... maybe," she giggled, turning to kiss him gently. "You'd think it was silly though," she blushed.

He tipped her chin up and smiled warmly. "Try me."

"Okay," she blushed. "Mmm ... it was a weekend some time, I think. You were over here, and I'd finished changing most of the way... longer tail though. You were watching something on TV, and I was curled up on the couch next to you, kind of like a real cat."

"For real, I'd have reached out and started stroking your ears," he murmured with a soft smile.

"Mmm... you did, scratching me between them," she purred. "I nuzzled your thigh... then a little closer, following my nose to your crotch." She blushed deeply before continuing. "I gave you a playful little 'mewl,' and you unzipped your pants for me, and I nuzzled and worked until your cock was free.... I think you can guess where it went from there, though I don't think I actually said a word through the whole thing," she giggled. "I was your perfect little sex-kitten," she said with a blush that was almost painfully bright beneath her short fur.

"You have very sexy dreams," he murmured, his voice tight with desire.

"Did you have any?" she purred, quite aware of the way his cock twitched against her thigh.

"Not a new one," he admitted as he stroked her back, his fingers trailing a little lower as they talked. "You know that shallow river in the forest, away from anything?"

"Yeah; used to play there as a kid," she nodded.

"We are out there and you pull me into the water," he closed his eyes, his mind drifting back to the familiar dream. "By the time we finish kissing we are laying in the shallow water as it flows over us," he trembled in the raw eroticism of the imagery for him and lost his place for a moment.

"Mmm ... you have a _real_ thing for water, don't you?" She asked him knowingly.

"Yes," he admitted even as he struggled to focus back on his story. He gave up fairly soon and claimed a heated kiss that ended with Marie on her back and Jake leaning over her. "Care to share a fantasy to make real?" he asked softly as he kissed his way down her jaw and neck.

She reached her hands up towards the headboard, clasping them through the bars on it.

"Tie me up with my nightgown, then take me however you want?" She asked him, licking her lips with an almost desperately hopeful expression.

Jake shivered again and unsheathed his claws to make very short work of undressing her, much to the nightgown's detriment. She whimpered as he slid up her body, straddling her just below her breasts as he tied her up. Then he took his briefs off and gave her a potent noseful of his arousal.

He moved down again, his balls brushing against her skin as he lay down along her side and claimed a kiss while his fingers began to explore the coarse hair just above her sex.

She moaned into his mouth, suckling his rough tongue as she pressed into his touch needily.

"Take me," she begged him softly as their lips parted.

Despite his desire to draw it out, he couldn't deny her request any more than he could deny it to Chance.

He lowered his head to gently run his tongue around her breasts as he slid one hand further down between her legs to spread the swollen, slick lips there. He ran a finger around her clit for a moment, then shifted above her and slowly pressed his cock into her slick, hot, trembling body.

"Oh _yeah_ ," she moaned, tightening her body instinctively, pressing against him. "Oh Jake!"

He suckled a nipple, teasing it with sharp teeth and a rough tongue, as he ran his hands down her sides to take hold of her hips. With his grip firm on her he picked up the pace, thrusting into her with his full strength. Each move drove them closer to their first orgasm as lovers.

Jake bared his teeth and pressed them against the crook of her neck, but didn't bite as his self-control began to slip to the building pleasure in his groin.

Marie cried out, right on the brink of her own orgasm. His barbs inside of her touched something deep and primal, yet new at the same time; she'd felt it before, but never with a real lover. Instincts that were only half-formed took over, and she mrowled loudly, straining against her bonds as her body clenched down around his cock, milking it hungrily as she came.

It was all Jake could take and he threw his head back with a roar that descended into a grunting growl each time he thrust forward to spray more of his seed deep into her eager body. 

Marie very nearly melted, whimpering needily as her body recovered from the pleasure that had just consumed her.

"Oh Jake," she moaned softly when he finally stilled, panting against her neck and twitching randomly as he came down slowly.

"That was incredible," he murmured, honestly shocked that a female could make him feel that good, and leave him feeling happy about their shared pleasure when it was over.

"Mmm ... yeah," she purred, kissing him. "Maybe later, I'll show you a few more things we can do?"

"Maybe we can take our time to explore each other too," he relaxed a bit more. "And a shower."

"That, we're going to need," she agreed with a giggle as they both snuggled in to enjoy their afterglow.


	6. The Past Faced

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's just another day in Eureka as Jake and Marie settle in, Jessica leans more about Jake and Chance and Taggart has a nightmare become very graphically real.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written with Karl Wolfemann  
> The dildos that Marie used on Jake and herself (in order) are:  
> Tentacle Toy <http://www.zoofur.com/tent.html>  
> Double Dip <http://www.zoofur.com/double.html>  
> Tiger's Touch <http://www.zoofur.com/tiger.html>

"Come," Jessica Bruener called out to the buzzer requesting admittance to her lab.

"Hi Mom," Marie greeted her with only a trace of her irritation audible. "We really need to talk."

"Marie," Jessica said politely, leaning back in her chair. "You're right, we do. Take a seat," she said, indicating her guest chair.

"You went _way_ out of line with Jake," Marie said as she sat down. "Checking out my new boyfriend is one thing, insulting him in his own home is quite another."

"And just how did I insult him?" Jessica asked, folding her hands in her lap. "I suspect you've only got one side of what happened."

"You're right, which is why I'm here instead of simply disowning you," Marie pointed out. "I have the side of things that was very offended by what you said. Your intent is kind of irrelevant there. He was insulted."

"And what did I say that offended him?" She asked again. "If it's about my reaction when I first saw him, I did apologize for that. I hadn't been expecting him to be some sort of alien."

"I didn't even hear about that one," Marie shook her head. "Your reaction to what he did for a living was the biggest one. Your focus on education rather than who he is or what he can do didn't help."

"I was shocked that somebody with his qualifications and intelligence was a _junkyard mechanic_ ," Jessica pointed out. "I tried to get an explanation, but his partner threw me out before I could. How much do you really know about this man, Marie? For all we know, he could be very dangerous."

"I know how it happened," she said simply, abruptly aware of what had happened in the kat's home. "What you did was step on some _very_ sensitive sore spots they've had to explain several times recently. Chance was just protecting him. It's what they do for each other. As for dangerous ... no more than anyone else with military training and thirty years of combat experience. He's really a sweet guy."

"What sore spots were they, Marie?" Jessica asked firmly. "Explain what it was that happened, and I'll apologize if I think it's warranted."

"He graduated collage and applied in his field, aerodynamics -- jet designs. He found himself blacklisted without ever working. The only job of any worth that'd have him was as a gunner/mechanic in the Enforcers, the local police/military. Then saw the designs that he used for interviews being credited to others and some in production. Two years after that, he and Chance were 'assigned' to a salvage yard to pay for damage done in the line of duty," she actually growled, personality furious at such treatment. "Even Henry got better treatment than that, and he _hates_ working for anyone."

Marie glared at her mother, her eyes snapping. "That jet in their back yard and the other vehicles? He _built_ those from scrap lying around the junkyard. No support, no funding, no help, nothing but a desire to protect his home and Chance. They've worked that way for over twenty years now. You want to tell me that kind of treatment doesn't warrant being sore about it?" Marie demanded.

"It does warrant being sore about it," Jessica admitted. "But am I supposed to just _assume_ that something like that happened? Usually a person with those qualifications finds himself working as a _mechanic_ , and it means that they aren't _nearly_ as qualified in reality as they are on paper."

"I don't suppose you've bothered to look up what he's done since he got here?" Marie asked, or all but dared. "Guy's brilliant, and those qualifications are what Global _decided_ he rated. It's not like he went to school on this planet. Skill tests are what got used to place him."

"I tried to, but while I was looking there wasn't much there," Jessica pointed out. "And aptitude tests don't always match up with reality. I _did_ offer to apologize," she reminded Marie icily.

" _If_ you thought it was warranted," she snapped before she stood and turned to leave. "Which you haven't agreed with yet. Just think about what it means to have a likely son-in-law think you hate him _already_." She said and stalked out of the room, fuming and cursing herself for thinking there was any point to talking with the woman.

* * *

Two days later, Sheriff Carter was just about ready to decide that Jaeger had left the area. Unfortunately, he knew better... it was just damned hard to find somebody with three different forms, one of which was indistinguishable from a normal animal. They had canine searchers out, but nothing to use to get his scent in the first place... it was frustrating, to say the least.

"S.A.R.A.H., door," he called out as he headed down the stairs to his house. To top it off, he'd been out late every day since the attack on Taggart... at least his house didn't mind too much, as long as he called. Today he'd finally got home in time for dinner, albeit somewhat  
late, but still in time to spend a little time with Zoe.

"Dad!" she greeted him with relief in her voice. "Is it finally over?"

"No," he admitted reluctantly. "Damned thing's just about impossible to find," he muttered. Especially when there hadn't been so much as a glimpse in two days. "Even with Dr. Moreau's tracking data, he's too good at this."

"What are you going to do?" She asked as they headed for the kitchen table to eat.

"Keep hunting, probably," he admitted. "So, what did S.A.R.A.H. pick out for dinner?" He asked, hoping to get off the subject of work for a bit.

"Pot-roast, Sheriff Carter," S.A.R.A.H. answered even as the refrigerator turned around to offer him a beer.

"Just like every time you have to work way too much," Zoe teased him. "She recorded the game today too. Wouldn't let me watch it until you got home," she rolled her eyes.

"Good," he chuckled slightly, taking the glass. "Thanks, S.A.R.A.H.," he called out.

"You're welcome, Sheriff," the house responded, sounding a little surprised by the gesture.

"There's rumors flying all over the place that the town might go on lockdown," Zoe picked up the subject again.

"Now what good would that do, hmm? What we're after is in the woods," Carter pointed out, taking a drink. "We _might_ actually start enforcing the curfew, but it'd just be until we find this thing."

"Dad, seriously, what is out there?" Zoe asked quietly, honestly a little scared. "Is it that thing that ripped the hiker apart?"

"Yeah, it is," he nodded. "Which, by the way, is why I don't want _you_ out after dark without somebody to keep an eye on you," he said seriously. "Official curfew or no, that thing already hit around here once, I don't want you being the second one."

"What about you? You're out all the time now," she pointed out.

"That is Sheriff Carter's job, Zoe," S.A.R.A.H. pointed out.

"You are _not_ helping," Zoe snapped at her.

"I'm also out with Jo and a squad of Global's troops," he pointed out. "Somehow, I _really_ don't think you'd want them following you around everywhere, even if I _could_ convince Stark to approve it."

"No," she mumbled. "What if something happens to you? It's killed a guy in a _force field_ for heaven's sake dad."

"I was hoping you hadn't heard about that," he admitted, though he wasn't surprised that she had. "Look ... they _can't_ just leave me out of the loop at this point. It did manage to kill one of them, but now that we know more about what it is, we know to keep back more. If anything happens, I'm the first one under cover. I _can't_ just back out of the search, honey. It's not _just_ a Global project gotten loose. If it was, I'd be locking up tight and not going out either," he admitted.

"Then what is it?" she pressed for details.

"I can't tell you everything, but there's a person involved in this. Makes it a legal issue, not just Global having to clean up," he explained.

"You're telling me a _person_ did that to the hiker?" she very nearly freaked out completely.

"Not... not a person," Carter sighed, trying to find a way to phrase it. "It _was_ an animal, but somebody's controlling it. It attacked Taggart the other night, and we've got to find out who it's listening to."

He quietly prayed that she'd buy it. It was close enough, at least.

"Come on dad, it can't be _that_ classified," Zoe complained as she put dinner on the table.

" _Stark_ didn't even know what was going on until the other night," he pointed out. "It's _that_ classified."

"Damn, that's ...." she shook her head. "Thought he had access to everything."

"It's 'need to know,' and apparently nobody here needed to know," he said, rolling his eyes. "I got briefed on what it was, but we can't have it getting around just yet. This... is probably going to be messy," he admitted.

"Just be careful, okay?" she looked at him pleadingly.

"I will, honey," he promised seriously. "So... how're things going in class these days? Haven't had the chance to grill you about it lately," he smirked, hoping to get things back to normal for the evening.

* * *

"Hey, Marie, good to see you," Chance greeted her with a welcoming hug at the door before pulling her inside and shutting the door. "Vincent had some real fun with this order."

"I'm officially scared now," she giggled, following him in. "I assume Jake's getting it set out," she sniffed the air. It had definite traces of peppers and other spices, as well as a tomato base.

"Yeah," the tabby grinned. "So was it fun?" he asked with a secretive whisper.

"Wha -" Marie blushed as she realized what he was referring to. "I'd have thought you'd already asked him," she giggled slightly, adjusting her sweater self-consciously.

"I did, he turned a lovely shade of red and mumbled," he snickered. "Didn't seem to dampen his enthusiasm for me any either."

"Probably not," she giggled again. "Though uhm ... yes, _very_ ," she said, blushing even more, if it was possible.

How had she _ever_ gotten to be friends with Cindy?

"If you ever want to borrow the film I made with Cindy, I think you two would enjoy it," he grinned at her. "He hasn't been with a female many times."

"I kinda gathered that... and I'll leave that up to him, I think. So, you two enjoyed yourselves?"

"Always," he chuckled as they walked into the dinning room where Jake was laying their pasta, bread and roasted vegetable dinner with wine. "She introduced me to this great variant on milk wine. Things still going well with your transformation?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "Had to take a cab over though; my vision's starting to slip a bit. Tomorrow I've got an appointment to get some glasses."

"Something you expected to happen?" Jake asked with some concern.

"Yeah," she nodded. "Not this soon, but eventually. Human eyes and cat eyes are different, and they're shifting... migraines will probably be hitting in the next few weeks. Suppose now's as good a time as any to bring up your offer?" She asked, looking between Jake and Chance.

"Marie, if you mean enough to him to get offer to move in while your hurting, I'm not about to object," Chance said seriously. "I'm not the jealous type, honest."

"I didn't know if he'd mentioned it to you yet," she smiled as they sat down, plates of what looked like spaghetti with some sort of exotic meat in the sauce and smelled of spices from all over the world.

"Yeah," Chance nodded and dug into his plate. "Took him long enough to offer too."

"Not _that_ long," Jake objected, though there was a teasing tone to his words.

"Yeah, he offered not too long after he found out," Marie smiled warmly at the lean tom. "I just didn't officially accept until now," she chuckled. "Oh, on less cheerful topics, I spoke to Mother earlier," she sighed. "She _might_ be around to apologize some time... can't be sure with her."

"If she doesn't behave better, I _toss_ her out of the house this time," Chance rumbled.

"I can take care of myself, you know," Jake rolled his eyes. "He gets all mother-hen on me when he thinks I'm not standing up for myself enough."

"Because nobody else is gonna do it," Chance scoffed. "Maybe a few years around here you'll get better about it," he added with a smile, leaning over to nuzzle Jake's shoulder.

"Well, this time y'might've jumped the gun a _little_ bit," Marie admitted. "Not, mind you, that I'd blame you at all. Woman's got issues... don't think she's ever gotten over the fact that I chose to live with Dad instead of her."

"Your choice in test subject and potential boyfriend didn't go over real well either," Jake shook his head. "I think she expects you to want to go to MegaKat City with us already."

"We didn't go into that," she shrugged a bit. "Like I said, she's got issues. Don't even pretend to understand them all."

"So are there any home movies of the special night?" Chance asked easily between bites.

"No," Jake shook his head in disbelief. "Don't you get enough?"

"Well, she's one of Cindy's friends," Chance teased.

" _She's_ the one who does cameras, not me," Marie blushed, shaking her own head.

"Pity, you have _no_ idea how hot the two of you are," Chance grinned at his partner.

"Mmm ... maybe some time you can watch," Marie teased lightly, an idea that made Jake choke on the food in his mouth.

"Tonight?" Chance rumbled at her.

"I don't think Jake's ready for that... and I don't think I am either," she reassured the tom as he managed to swallow what he was eating. "Sorry," she giggled, trying to hide a smile.

"No you aren't," Jake replied, though it was more in amusement that actually being upset. "Eventually, hot stuff," he told Chance. "Though she'll probably get to watch us before then."

Marie turned an even brighter shade of red, but she took a drink and tried to cover for it.

"Think I'd like that," she admitted. "You two are pretty hot too, after all," she giggled.

"You don't know the half of it," Chance ginned at her. "What do you like in Jake, dom or sub?"

"I think I like the dom side a bit more," she smiled with a light purr for the memories of what they'd done the other day.

"I'm _in_ the room, you two," Jake objected with a deep blush beneath cinnamon fur.

"You're free to object at any time," Chance pointed out. "But we do have that one recording already."

"No," Jake said firmly, almost snapping at his mate.

"Jake?" Marie looked at him curiously.

"I think that's saying we were a little too kinky for sharing right now," Chance supplied.

"It's okay, Jake," Marie reassured him with a smile. "So, topic other than sex for a while?" She suggested.

"How about a best guess on what we're going to be helping you through?" Chance suggested.

"Headaches and migraines at first, nausea... not really that different from being pregnant, by our best guess," she explained. "What'll get really nasty is when my bone structure starts shifting. Probably months of a _lot_ of pain while my body adjusts to accommodate it, and a lot of time spent on my front, especially when the tail starts to develop. The good news, such as it is, is that that should be towards the end of it."

"How much of this can be controlled by local medicine?" Jake asked  
softly, fairly sure of how bad it was going to be and not looking forward to watching.

"Painkillers and sedatives can take the edge off of it, but we're not sure," she admitted. "This sort of change isn't something we've ever done before, as far as I know."

"At least she'll have time to adjust to it," Chance offered quietly.

"Just let us know what we can do to help, okay?" Jake asked her.

"I will," she promised.

"So how is your father taking us?" Jake asked after a couple bites in silence.

"Pretty well, all things considered," she smiled. "He's not that weirded out by it, anyways. Dad's always been cool about the weird things I get into," she chuckled. "Including alien felinoids, as long as they're really sweet ones," she winked.

"At least half your family is okay with it," he smiled back. "Just how ... conservative ... is your mother?"

"I wouldn't let her know that the two of you are mates," Marie sighed. "Not that she has a problem with gay couples, but she is _very_ much in favor of monogamy."

"We're working on a different definition of that word, then," Jake look at her uncertainly.

"Monogamy here means one sexual partner at a time, period," she explained.

"Instead of only within a relationship that all parties know about," Jake nodded.

"So you tend to be monogamous, but Chance isn't?" Marie guessed.

"Right," Jake nodded.

"Hell, I might as well not even _talk_ to her again," Chance muttered.

"I was going to suggest that anyway," Jake admitted.

"Wouldn't be far off how I handle her," Marie shrugged slightly. "Maybe I shouldn't be so hard on her, but she does _not_ make it easy. Another time and place, she'd probably have fought me going to school and tried to marry me off to some rich guy when I was sixteen," she grumbled.

"Another time and place and you'd both be burned at the stake for the crime of literacy," Jake pointed out.

"We've seen a few too many of those 'different time and place' things as reality," Chance added. "It's nothing that matters, it didn't happen."

"Sorry," Marie shrugged slightly. "Still irritating. She has this idea of 'what's best for me,' and she doesn't like the fact that I disagree."

"That's parents for you," Chance shrugged as well. "They're all like that to some extent."

"Yeah," she admitted. "Can't live with 'em, wouldn't be alive without 'em, huh?" She chuckled. "Okay... defective family aside, how are things going on the Harrier?" She asked Jake, eager to get on a topic that _wouldn't_ come back to family issues for any of them.

"Largely on schedule," he grinned, more than willing to talk about his projects.

"You realize you aren't going to get out of here today, now?" Chance teased her.

"I'd already been planning on spending most of the night," she teased back, settling in to let Jake get into a better subject for them all.

* * *

Jo groaned quietly as she came up to her house. The entire day had been spent looking for Jaeger... she wasn't sure what it was, but she just _knew_ that he was going to be up to something soon. It wasn't like him to take his time like this, to lay low.

As she unlocked her door and stepped in, she started to get the sinking feeling that she'd been right. She could smell blood from deeper in the house, and was sure that she'd just gotten another 'present.'

She just hoped it wasn't human this time.

She drew her gun and slowly worked her way into her home. It wouldn't kill, but she could slow him down enough to get to the real weapons that could.

Now that she was alert to it, she could see the subtle signs that there was something wrong. Things that had been moved in the back rooms... the blood trail wasn't subtle, but she hadn't been able to see it from the front either.

She made her way back towards her bedroom, and felt her gorge rise as she saw a man's body laying in her bed, clearly dead and posed almost pornographically.

Okay, so 'clearly dead' was an understatement; it looked like he'd been field-dressed and hauled in before draining all the way.

"Oh, Randy," she whispered as it sunk in who it was.

She took a step closer, sure that Jaeger was somewhere near by, to watch her reaction. How had he managed to get inside without tripping the alarm?

She was interrupted mid-thought as a massive, grey-furred hand came out from around the doorframe, grabbing her hands and gun and hauled her bodily into the room, the weapon hitting the floor with a dull thud as Jaeger grappled with her.

It was pure reflex in being faced with imminent death; she screamed in pain as her body contorted and warped into the massive crinos form in a matter of moments, rather than the minutes it usually took.

Jaeger's was still stronger though, larger. As her clothes ripped and fell to the ground, he forced her back to the bed, knocking the body there to the floor. As Jo's senses became stronger, she became _entirely_ too aware of his arousal and the scent of fresh death in the room.

"No," she growled through her fangs and lashed out at the body part closest to her mouth even as she brought her legs up to kick at him, hoping to gut him. She tucked her tail tightly between her legs on instinct; body language to refuse her interest in mating. Still she knew it was at best a delay of the inevitable. She could barely beat him when she had the jump on him. By this point, she knew she didn't really have a chance.

He twisted to the side, snarling as she bit into his shoulder. He grabbed her arm, twisting it until she let go - then going further, breaking the bone as he rolled her onto her front and pinned her there with his greater mass.

"Bitch," he growled deeply, pleased that she was still tough enough not to scream in pain. "Lucky I'm in a good mood."

Before she could say anything he clamped his jaws around her throat, pinned her wrists against the bed and kicked her legs apart to rub his full erection against the tail protecting her sex.

She'd been in this position _far_ too often, with all the members of her 'pack' before. Jaeger barely even seemed to notice her tail, shifting to push it out of the way with a warning growl, telling her not to fight him too much... reminding her that he didn't _need_ her permission, for all that she needed reminding.

Jo closed her eyes and went lax, letting her tail slide down. The less damage she took now, the better her chances were of still being alive when he was done. Not that he'd kill her permanently, but tearing her throat out had been quite the popular way of keeping her from tearing into her attacker when they were tied.

Not for the first time, she almost wished she _couldn't_ heal as well as she could.

He shifted to press into her with ease, a low, canine groan reverberating around her neck as he started to thrust into her eagerly. His thick, hard shaft spread her body wide and deep, his knot starting to swell as he raped her.

As his pleasure grew he relaxed his grip on her throat and finally let go. The kiss that came next was almost more sickening than the sex, it was so reminiscent of what real lovers did, what _they_ did when the passion was mutual.

She wanted to bite, to rip his tongue out, but she knew it wouldn't have been more than an empty gesture. He kissed her again, their jaws pressed together deeply as his scent flooded over and through her, forcing a blend of memories to the fore. The shame, rage, and hate born of old attacks like this one... and what they'd had, before the project. There was something else there, in the very back of her hindbrain, a relic of the Beast that she couldn't _really_ get away from.

She was the Alpha's mate... he'd chosen her, he mated with her, was willing to have pups with her... in a twisted way, it was almost a sort of honor, something that the she-wolf in her wanted. That part of her wanted it badly enough to begin to rock with his thrusts, shifting her body as she could influence Jo's human mind so this became something it wasn't.

Her eyes squeezed shut in shame and hatred, Jo focused on not sobbing as she rode it out and tried to pretend what her body was doing, and the back of her mind was encouraging, wasn't a part of her.

Somewhere as the pleasure built, she lost track of her hatred and kissed him back as her human mind began to slip in its desperate attempt to survive the night again.

His knot started to swell, popping in and out of her as the two of them mated. He released one of her hands, tentatively at first, then reached between them to stroke her chest when she didn't attack him immediately. He grinned when she arched into the contact, whimpering in pleasure as her body worked his eagerly.

"That's my pretty bitch," he rumbled and slammed his hips forward to force his knot into her body, tying them together physically in a way he never dared to when she wasn't at least a little willing.

He kissed her again, humping her in short, hard strokes that pushed both of them towards the edge. He threw his head back with a howl, his balls pulling close to his lupine body as he flooded her with his seed, the thick, hot liquid seeping into her deepest recesses. It was a private thrill to hear her howl mingle with his own, her body tight and hot as an orgasm flooded her senses.

He knew he could reach her if he just tried hard enough.

He licked her neck and muzzle affectionately, resting for a moment before starting to thrust again.

They had a lot of time to catch up on.

* * *

The next morning, Taggart and Carter both pulled up in front of Jo's house. Everything _looked_ fine... but she hadn't come to work, and calls from both of them had failed to get a hold of her.

"Taggart," Carter said with a greeting nod as the tall man climbed out of his car.

"Sheriff," the hunter replied. "Could you get her on the radio?"

"No ... sounded like there was something in the background, but I couldn't tell what," Carter admitted. "Movement, but she didn't pick it up, so I know she didn't just sleep in for some reason."

"Great," Taggart muttered, pulling a large assault rifle out of the bed of his truck.

"Do I even _want_ to know why you've got the grenade launcher attachment for that?" Carter asked dubiously as he pulled out the heavy assault riffle he'd taken out of the armory.

"Probably not," Taggart shrugged and walked up to the door and knocked, praying that the Sheriff was wrong ... that _he_ was wrong, about what he suspected might be in the house.

"And I thought Jo was the local gun nut," Carter muttered quietly to himself even as he covered Taggart at the door with a weapon that wasn't legal _anywhere_ outside of Eureka.

At least, in his defense, it didn't come out of his personal stock.

Taggart unlocked the door and slipped in, quickly entering the code on the number pad next to the door before he motioned for Carter to follow.

"What died in here?" Carter asked quietly, looking around as he picked up the growing smell of dead flesh.

"Just hope it wasn't Jo," Taggart said softly, the two of them slowly making their way back to where the scent originated; her bedroom.

Carter opened his mouth to respond, but remained silent when Taggart raised his hand and focused on listening for whatever the hunter had heard.

He picked it up quickly; the grunts and groans and the quiet sound of bedsprings rocking.

There was a part of him that desperately wanted to laugh as he realized that somebody was having sex in the back bedroom.

The majority of his brain, however, realized that the odds that everything went together to say 'all that is happening is that Jo's cheating on Taggart' were about the same as the odds of him spontaneously sprouting fairy wings and flying to the moon.

Hell, in Eureka, the odds of the wings were better than the odds that it was that simple.

Especially with the scent of a decomposing body so evident even at this distance.

There was only one thing he could even begin to believe could have accomplished that, and he shuddered that what it meant was that Jo was doing what she was to protect them from the guy she was with.

With a slight nod the two men moved forward, weapons raised and ready to open fire on the man they both knew had to be there.

Unfortunately, they weren't quite quiet enough. They heard the bed groan, and a pained roar from the room as Jaeger transformed. Taggart dove around the side, aiming high and opening fire, bullets ripping through the shoulder of the wolf-creature. He could see that Jo was still in her human form on the bed, and couldn't risk the grenade. Not with her there in a form that wouldn't heal.

He could also see exactly what had happened to her, and privately promised himself that he _would_ see Jaeger dead before much longer.

He had no doubts Jaeger had the same intent for him as the monster lunged for him, fully aware of the bullets ripping threw him from both weapons and ignoring the damage as he targeted his only real competition for Jo.

Taggart ducked back, letting the wall catch most of Jaeger's attack as Carter hit him with the powerful automatic riffle he'd taken.

"Get back!" Taggart ordered the Sheriff, loading one of the grenades and scrambling back himself, trying to get to a safe distance before firing.

He realized that Jo had shifted and was now in the battle too late to avoid the high explosive going off near her, or compensate for her blind tackle that ended up knocking Jaeger out of the kill zone, even for his healing rate, while she bit and clawed at him.

"Damn it," he snarled to himself, switching back to bullets, hoping he could get a clear shot even as Carter headed out to try coming back around the other side while the two monsters fought until the larger of the two hit the smaller one hard, fracturing her jaw and neck to send her reeling back. He took the momentary break to throw himself threw the picture window that had been replaced so many times recently.

Taggart rushed forward, launching the grenade he had loaded, but while it blasted one of the large trees in the forest apart, Jaeger was already too far into the woods to be in any serious danger from it.

He tossed the weapon to the side, turning to see what he could do for Jo ... if anything. Her bright brown eyes held steady on his despite her pain, and once more he watched as she healed at a visible rate. If he had some of his nano-bugs with him, he could help, but for now it was clear the best he could was to stroke her ears and try to be comforting. He tried not to think about the things that he was doing were more appropriate for a dog than a human lover by focusing on the fact that it was clearly comforting to her right now.

"It'll be okay," he murmured quietly as Carter came in through the back door.

"He's back in the woods," Taggart told him. "Get Global's people out here to find that bastard," he said, the hate clear in his voice.

"We'll join you soon," Jo added, her voice deep and gravely in the crinos form.

"Right," Carter nodded, even as he added an emergency call to Beverly to that list. There was no way Jo or Taggart would get through this mess without some help.

"Doing better?" Taggart asked her softly after the Sheriff was gone.

"Yes," she nodded slightly. "It'll hurt for a while longer, but I can fight if I have to now."

"He'll be taking a 40 millimeter grenade to the chest before you have to," Taggart growled lowly. "Jo... I don't want you to stay here, while he's still on the loose.

"I don't plan to," she admitted and let her eyes drift closed briefly. "There aren't exactly any safe places."

"I have the saferoom," he pointed out.

"Which wouldn't hold him out for all that long," Jo reminded him. "S.A.R.A.H. is the safest place right now, short of holing up at GD itself. Carter will probably let us stay until this is over. It won't be long."

"We'll have to talk to him about it," Taggart nodded slightly. "Sounds like he's had S.A.R.A.H. set to blow him apart if he comes anywhere near it for a few days," he said approvingly. "I'm not going to push about what happened, but if you ever want to talk about it, I'll listen," he promised.

"I'm sure Beverly's going to make me talk more than I'll ever want to," Jo sighed as the pain began to truly recede from her body, if not her soul. "I'm sorry you had to see that."

"It wasn't your fault, Jo," he pointed out. "It's not like he gave you a choice in things."

"I'm still sorry you had to see it," she murmured and reached up to stroke his face with a hand larger than his head. "I've been through this so many times with them I'm kind of numb to it for the most part. Sucks, but it's not the worst I've survived."

"Sick bastard," Taggart muttered, reaching down to hug her lightly. "Glad we got here when we did... just wish it had been sooner."

"Yeah, they all are," she sighed and relaxed, giving her body a little longer before shifting back to human. "Right now, I just want a hot shower and to rip him apart."

"We'll do what we can," Taggart nodded, letting her go to get her shower, and picking up the phone to call Henry about the body.

* * *

For the second time in a week, Jessica Bruener was pulling up in front of the Clawson-Furlong residence ... and this time she was less curious and more irritated.

Not so much with Jake, as with her daughter and herself, admittedly, but she was irritated.

She climbed out, pocketed her keys and headed up to the door, knocking lightly. It looked like Jake was home. She was fairly sure that he usually took one of their sleek red and black monocycles to work and both of the cycles were here, but with as many vehicles as they had and the frequency she had heard all were used, it was hard to tell at a glance.

There was a bit of a wait before the big tabby opened it to greet her with a forced smile, glaring down at her from a notable six and a half feet tall.

"Apparently, you're still welcome to come in," he said, his tone making it extremely clear that he didn't approve of the decision.

"Chance ...." Jake's tone was a mixture of warning and tolerance from further inside.

"Just remember, that kat means the world to me," Chance kept his voice low but deadly serious, and she was sure he only just refrained himself from grabbing her arm to reinforce the point. "I won't let him be hurt."

As ludicrous as it was, she couldn't help but think of the way she heard some fathers greeted their daughter's potential boyfriends.

"I've never come here to hurt him," she said, trying to force herself to be polite as she came into their house and Chance led her into the living room to where Jake was sitting on the couch with the TV on international news.

"I wanted to apologize for how I reacted the last time I was here," she told the cinnamon-furred tom. "I didn't now that I'd hit a sore point."

"Thank you," Jake nodded, the TV ignored as he focused on her.

"Marie told me about what happened later," Jessica admitted. She could still feel Chance glowering at her from behind, but he'd moved a bit further away now. "If somebody had explained that, I would have apologized up front. I hope you understand that I'm just looking out for her?"

"I know," Jake nodded. "Have a seat?" he motioned into the living room. The offer earned a displeased sound from Chance, which got the tabby an annoyed look from Jake. "Why don't you take the jet out? Burn off some of that temper."

"Right," the tabby muttered, heading out as Jessica sat down.

"I'd have thought you'd be the one holding a grudge, rather than him," she admitted once the door closed.

"He's got a worse relationship with his family, and a serious protective streak towards me," Jake explained. "As irritating as I find it, I do know where the questions, and reaction, came from."

"At least somebody does," Jessica mused. "Do you have any questions for me?"

"The biggest one is likely as popular as asking now I ended up a mechanic," he admitted. "How things ended up going so badly between you and Marie. I've heard her version, I'd like to hear yours."

"Have you ever raised a child, or younger sibling?" Jessica asked him, leaning back in her chair and looking for how to explain it.

He had to shake his head. "I was the only one to survive past age three of my siblings, the only one to make adult of my generation."

Jessica's shock was painfully clear to Jake. It was a reaction he was used to well enough from MegaKat City to recognize easily.

"What - never mind," she said, shaking her head. "If you wanted to talk about it, I'm sure you would. Were your own teenage years difficult ones, for you and your parents?"

"Putting it mildly," he winced. "A strong preference for males on my part when having kits is their top priority for me didn't make for easy family time. It's hasn't gotten any better with time."

"No, I imagine it wouldn't," Jessica murmured, wondering about Chance a bit now. "In our case, it was a number of smaller things, but it probably really started when Marie and Cindy became friends. Have you met Cindy Orwell before?"

"I've seen her a couple times," he nodded. "She and Chance have a thing going. I really try not to get the details too much."

"Well, at the time that she and Marie started becoming friends, good friends, Cindy was Eureka's resident wild-child," Marie explained. "Sleeping around, petty crime... I don't know for sure if there were any drug use issues, but I have every reason to suspect it. You can understand why I had issues with their being such close friends? I didn't want my little girl getting into that sort of lifestyle."

"I can," he nodded. "I don't expect trying to discourage her went over well at all, did it?"

"No," Jessica admitted. "It was the first time we had a major blowup over something. I tried to explain things to her, but she insisted that she knew her friend, and that it was her own life. Not bad for thirteen, hmm?" Jessica chuckled ruefully. "To say it went disastrously for both of us would be an understatement, and when Jean and I split up not too long afterwards, it didn't help at all."

"It rarely does," he nodded. "At least she didn't reject all adult presence in her life like some do, even if it wasn't yours."

"Her father did _far_ too good a job of coddling her for that," Marie muttered. "Though I have to give him some credit for trying to keep her from completely shutting me out of her life," she admitted. "She decided to stay with him, and while I think she's managed to keep out of a lot of the things that kids her age at the time got into, she started taking the cat-people thing more and more seriously, and following more and more after the Moreau family traditions."

"It _is_ her heritage," Jake pointed out as evenly as he could. "As unsettling an idea as I find her transformation project, her long-term plans for it are extremely admirable, and even plausible if it works. I doubt this world is ready for her personal choice of transformations, but the less dramatic variations would make life a lot better for so many people," he actually got into it a little. "It has the potential to grow, or regrow, lost limbs, enable those with genetic defects ranging from dwarfism to rapid aging to cancers, even things as drastic as Downs Syndrome, to be whole and normal and have a natural lifespan as long as anyone else. It could even correct minor but debilitating problems like degrading vision, diabetes and obesity. If what she's doing to herself works, it can change so much for so many."

"I know that, and it's not the project _itself_ that I object to," Jessica sighed. "How much has she told you about the Moreau family, and their reputation since they went into the sciences?"

"That they're mad, keep trying to blur the line between human and animal and it generally goes badly? I got the brief version on the last five generations," he nodded. "I've looked up a bit more. It looks likes the profiles of some of the guys Chance and I keep bringing in back home, and the guys that help us the most to do that."

"It's not a reputation that I wanted Marie to associate herself with so strongly," Jessica nodded. "She's so brilliant... she could do _anything_ with her life. Instead, she's putting herself in a place where she'll have to live with, at best, being in her father's shadow, and at worst, with being in the shadow of her great-grandfather and his ilk."

"You don't seem to have much faith in her brilliance," Jake said quietly. "Her father may well be in her shadow soon."

"Perhaps," she acknowledged. "From what I've heard, now would be a good time for it. When she was going into biotech, it wasn't so clear. I just saw her heading towards something that had destroyed many members of her family, and that more of them were still trying to make work."

"She's also in a place where being odd isn't unusual," Jake said. He wanted to add how much better off she was than he'd been when he found out that he had no place to do what he loved and just what it was like to have something you existed to do and were denied the opportunity to do, but he kept that quiet for now. "Did she tell you that her transformation is reversible?"

"It is?" Jessica asked, blinking in surprise. "No ... she didn't. Everything I'd heard about that type of procedure from Jean suggested it would be permanent...."

"It is, but it isn't restricted to once in a lifetime," he pointed out. "Her original DNA is on file, so she can do the same thing to turn back to her original self, or a healthier variant of it."

"That... changes things a bit," Jessica admitted.

"Your daughter isn't as reckless or as delusional as some of her predecessors, Ms. Bruener," Jake told her, feeling that he was _quite_ qualified to make such a call after the likes of Dr. Viper. "She pushes the limits to an extreme, but she's careful about the important things. It's not too different from the risks I take on the TurboKat. We're both willing to risk our lives for what we believe in."

"True," she admitted. "Jake... when Marie was talking with me, she said something about not wanting to get off on the wrong foot with my future son-in-law," she explained, watching for his reaction to the statement. "Are things that serious, or was she just trying to make a point?"

"I think she was making a point," he murmured, taken only slightly taken off guard. "We're serious, yes, but that's a good bit further along than I think we are."

"Do you think you'll be willing to go that far, when the time comes and you're both comfortable with it?" Jessica asked him pointedly.

"Yes," he nodded seriously. "I don't know if it would ever be fully legal here like it would be in MegaKat City, but by vows and intent I would."

"All right," she nodded slightly. "So... can we try to start over? I'd like to learn more about you, as important as you are to Marie, and it's pretty clear I've gone about it the wrong way."

"All right," Jake agreed. "Would you like something to drink?"

"Water, thank you," she nodded, settling in for their conversation.

* * *

Chance looked around the Cafe Diem as he stepped in, looking to grab some lunch before heading to the race track. Which Jake at Marie's place, there wasn't much reason to eat at home, and much better food here. He grinned as he spotted Zoe, making his way over towards her.

"Hey, kiddo," he said cheerfully. "Managed to get away from your Dad, huh?"

"It's not hard during the day," she grinned back at the human-looking kat. "No Jake today?"

"He's got a date," Chance chuckled. "For what it's worth, you're not the only one who thinks it's a pain they want everybody in by sundown," he grumbled.

"Yeah, but it's a good idea," she shuddered and paused with her hamburger than likely contained something other than beef. "There's something really scary out there. Even Jo and Taggart are hiding at our house when they aren't out hunting that thing."

"Jo's hiding from it?" Chance asked, raising an eyebrow. "That's... pretty damned nasty. You know anything more about it?"

"It's so classified _Stark_ didn't know details until now, it's killed several folks already, including some of the GDS with their force fields on and from the look of Jo when she came over ... it's after her, and it caught her at least once," she said softly. "I've seen that look a few times. It's never good."

"The hollow look, huh?" Chance asked softly, his gut twisting with sympathy if he was right. "She was in one piece though... wouldn't be what we saw...."

"Given what medicine in Eureka, especially where Taggart is concerned, that doesn't mean much," she pointed out quietly. "Where Jo's concerned, there isn't much on the list I know of that qualifies anymore."

"Yeah... well, it still shouldn't be that critter," Chance said, shrugging a bit. "Wish they'd talk to us. They know we'd be willing to help. Guess it's not our fight anymore," he shrugged again, though he clearly wasn't as at ease with it as he made it sound.

"You're really trying to behave, aren't you?" Zoe half-grinned at him. "I didn't get the feeling you're anymore law abiding than I am."

"Hey, I try," he chuckled. "Hang on a sec," he said, heading up to the counter to order before going back to sit down at Zoe's table. "Besides, the 'not behaving' we're talking about here is the sort that involves serious threats with SAM's."

"And what you did before didn't?" she challenged him. "I saw that bike you ride. That thing is armed and armored to the hilt. Anywhere but Eureka it'd require a dozen military permits just to design it."

"Back home, that was just weapons beyond a street car," Chance smirked. "Anyways, there's a difference between riding the bike around and taking the TurboKat out. People get nervous when you do things like that. That thing starts causing much more trouble though, we won't bother waiting for permission."

"Might want to suggest that Jake ask for standing permission to test fly it," she suggested. "I know a couple folks who have things like that."

"That might be one way to get around it," Chance mused. "After all, not like it's our fault if we 'accidentally' test fly around the search area, right?" He chuckled.

"As far as I've figured out, as long as you don't blow something up by accident or ruin some Senator's visit, nobody really cares but my dad and Jo. Besides, don't you need to keep up your flying skills?"

"Does your Dad know you're this sneaky?" Chance asked with a chuckle.

"When he's not in denial," she grinned devilishly. "I really should dye my hair riot pink again, shock him back into reality. Or maybe metallic neon purple this time."

"How do you think he'd take to you riding along some time?" Chance asked with a chuckle. "Check out a bird with a seat for a gunner some time, give you a whole new way of looking at Eureka?"

"Oooo, I'll have to work on him for a while, but I'd love to go," she grinned in utter glee at the thought. "He'll resist, but I'll break it down."

"If it helps, I promise it won't be the Harrier, or the TurboKat unless Jake approves it first," Chance smirked.

"It won't much," she giggled. "But I'll pass that along. Do you think Jake _would_ say it's okay?"

"I don't know," he admitted. "He might, but she's kind of always been ours, so it's hard to tell."

"Ask him?" she asked pleadingly over a long sip from a pinkish-purple shake. "Pretty please?"

"All right, all right," Chance chuckled as Vincent brought out his pizza, smelling faintly of mint and fish. "I'll ask him. It'll be harder to convince your Dad, you know," he smirked.

"Yeah, but I've got over a decade of experience on that job," she winked at him. "I think you might like fish as much as my mom's cat."

"Hey, I've been on a tuna-heavy diet for the last twenty years," Chance chuckled. "This probably would've worked out to a week's pay back home."

"Yeah, I've gotten seriously spoiled on quality food here," she agreed. "And I don't doubt it, that's sushi grade. You don't leave anything lower grade raw."

"It's a few other things too," Chance chuckled, taking a bite of his pizza and clearly enjoying it. "Gotta say one thing for Vincent; he doesn't bat an eye when you throw weird things at him."

"It's his pride," she giggled. "You should hear some of the rounds he and Jo get into. Ordering coffee can take ten minutes."

"I'll bet," Chance chuckled. "So, after we're done, want to watch me out at the race track for a while, I'll drive you home when it starts getting dark?"

"Sure," she grinned, already planning on how to get a ride on the bike where there was no speed limit. "You're the most interesting thing going around this town that I want to meet right now."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Chance chuckled, tucking into his lunch in earnest.

* * *

It well full daylight, not yet noon, and Jake lay in bed, more than content to stay there until hunger made him move, or the strange looking person snuggled against him wanted him to. It was still strange, to be so attracted to her physically without finding her beautiful in a way he could understand. Still she had many attributes worthy of his affection and interest, and she was a fine person.

"Marie?" he nuzzled her affectionately. "Mind if I ask something a little ... uneasy?"

"Mmm ... it's okay," she murmured, nuzzling his neck and snuggling up a bit more. "What is it?"

"When you were talking with your mother, you said something about me being a son-in-law?" he looked at her, caressing her cheek with a thumb.

"I _did_ say 'might be,'" she blushed, turning her face to kiss his hand lightly. "I wanted to make her stop and think about it a bit... you don't mind, do you?"

"She didn't," he relaxed before pulling her close against him. "No, I don't mind, I just wanted to make sure you didn't think we were that far along yet."

"No," she said easily, hugging him close. "Mmm... not _nearly_ that far along yet," she reassured him with a gentle kiss. "Trust me, I want at _least_ six months before doing anything like that," she smirked slightly.

"I was thinking more along the lines of a couple years, locally, before the engagement," he kissed her in return and ran his hands down her back. "I usually manage six months back home before even considering spending the night," he licked her nose playfully. "And call me silly, but I'd like any wedding pictures to catch you in the form you'll have for a few years."

"Mmm ... I can live with that," she giggled, licking his chin. "All I ask is that we take longer than my folks did. A month and a half... that's _scary_ ," she shuddered.

"No kidding," he murmured. "How can you get to know someone well enough that fast?"

"They _did_ get divorced, even if it took 'em about twenty years to do it," she pointed out. "Anyways... let's not worry about that sort of thing now, hmm?"

"Right," he grinned and kissed her. He ran one hand up her body so he could slide a thumb along the side of her breast while the other cupped her ass. "We have much more pleasant things to be talking about, and doing," he rumbled softly.

"Mmm ... like practicing for the honeymoon," she teased with a purr. "Jake? What sort of kinks are you into?" She asked, kissing him lightly on the jaw.

"A little of most of them I know of," he admitted. "Water's probably the top one I'll do with anyone I'd sleep with. Bondage, dom/sub, role-playing, pain-play and bloodsports top the list that requires more trust. Those last two require a _very_ special partner," he dropped his eyes a bit, though he didn't blush. "I've got a real thing for doing it somewhere I could get caught, and I really get off on watching someone I sleep with be with someone else."

"Mmm... so, say, if I wanted to try and talk Chance into doing something while you watched, you'd probably be looking forward to me trying?" She smiled, nibbling his neck lightly. The tremor she felt run through his body at the suggestion answered before he could.

"Very much," Jake breathed and let his head fall back submissively, offering her anything to just keep touching him.

"Mmm... you want to know what mine are?" She asked him with a light, teasing tone in her voice as she reached up, idly tracing little patterns in his fur with her fingers.

"Sure," he murmured, his body on fire at her light touch and the promise of more.

"Mmm ... you already know about my thing for fur and your barbs," she purred, kissing her way down his neck and collarbone slowly. "And I'm enjoying having you under me like this a _lot_ more than I probably should," she giggled. "Mmm ... did you know I've got a thing for toys too?"

"No," he moaned lightly, his hand caressing her back. "What kind?"

"Mmm ... a couple different kinds," she smiled, looking up at him. "I have a few under the bed," she said, her voice trailing off suggestively. "Want me to bring them out for a bit?"

"Yes," he licked his lips. "However you want to use them."

"Ever been with a canine before?" She asked him, shifting off the bed to pull out a long, flat box, setting a jar of lube on the nightstand.

"Yes," his breath hitched and he spread his legs for her, lifting his knees to offer his ass. "A Doberman. Sweet Bastet he was hot."

"Mmm... think I'll save that for round two," she decided, considering her collection for a moment before leaning up to kiss him. "I've got a harness, so I can wear one," she said, sounding a little uncertain about whether he'd be interested or not.

"Please," he whimpered at the thought and stretched his arms up to grip the headboard bars. It put his tightly muscled body on fine display, the wanton nature of his desire on shameless display to her.

"Want those tied?" She asked him, moving to the closet to pull out the black leather harness, groaning softly as she sank the dildo inside the harness into her sex, fastening the buckles before mounting a long, blue-purple phallus that looked for all the world like the end of a tentacle. She opened the jar of lube, slathering the thick gel all over the silicone length.

"Yes," Jake managed to say, his tail twitching in anticipation as watched her prepare herself and the unique looking dildo about to be used on him.

She pulled a pair of padded, leopard-fur cuffs out of the box, fastening them snuggly around his wrists before she knelt by his ass, lifting his legs up over her shoulders where she could kiss his ankles and shins lightly.

"Don't hold back on telling me how it feels," she purred, before guiding the curved tip up to his anus, pressing forward carefully with a deep groan, stretching him out slowly with the unusual shaft, the one in her sex curving up to rub her insides pleasantly. She could feel how accepting his body was, and even without much experience on how it should feel, she was pretty sure this was easy for him to take in. His deep moan of pleasure as his eyes slid closed only confirmed that impression.

"Don't hold back," he gasped, his body trying to milk the dildo on instinct.

"Okay," she murmured, nuzzling his legs, starting to thrust into him. She looked down, absolutely fascinated by the way his cock twitched and his moaned as the ridges and bumps along the pseudo-tentacle slipped into him, the way his breath caught when the tiny ridges of the 'suction cups' on it rubbed over his prostate and the upturned end worked deep into his ass.

His muscles rippled and tensed, his breath became labored as she continued to fuck him. While it felt very good to her, and she saw how good it felt to the man under her as he pushed against her hips to take the dildo further into his body, watching him like this brought back memories of watching him with his mate at Cindy's. It was that more than anything that sent the spike of desire through her.

As reserved as he seemed to be so often in public, all that fell away when he was in private and when he was wound up enough.

"Gorgeous," she moaned, reaching down between them to stroke the base of his cock, intentionally staying away from his barbs to tease him.

"Close," Jake warned her, half expecting her to pull out or still to draw this out.

"Go ahead," she purred, sliding her hand up to stroke his barbs, lifting his cock slightly as she pressed into him up to the harness, the leather rubbing his balls as she rocked inside of him, stroking the fire inside him that soon burned out of control.

Jake roared and arched up, every muscle in his body flexing as he came hard against the bonds on his wrists and the strange dildo in his ass.

Marie purred deeply, watching his seed arc up through the air to land on his belly and chest before she leaned down to kiss him, her full breasts pressed against his chest as she let him recover.

"That was incredible," he purred softly when the kiss ended.

"Mmm ... and I'm just getting started," she grinned, leaning up a bit and pulling out of his ass, licking the seed out of his fur tenderly before she removed the harness and nuzzled his balls lightly. "You want me to try the next one without adding more lube?" She asked, reaching over the bed and pulling up a bright, translucent blue dildo with a knot near the tip, and another, thicker one near the base.

"Sure," he licked his whiskers in anticipation of the double knot. "I don't really need it."

"No, but if you want it I've got plenty," she giggled, pressing the pointed tip up against his stretched pucker, taking one of his balls into her mouth and suckling it, lavishing it with attention as she started to press the thick, swollen tip into him, stretching him out wide as he moaned. His cock twitched and jerked as she worked him and his moans and arousal encouraged her.

Finally, the first knot popped into him, and she let the heavy orb fall from her mouth, taking the other one in as she started to thrust the dildo slowly inside of him, working the knot up deeper into his body than he was used to, occasionally teasing him with the start of the second one.

"Oh gods," Jake shuddered at the incredible sensations. "You have _got_ to tell me where you get these."

When she was satisfied that he was ready for the second knot, she let his other ball fall from her mouth, kissing the base of his cock.

"This wonderful little place online called Zeta Creations," she purred. "They've got all sorts of fun little toys like these." She started to work the second knot into him, licking her way up his cock with a playful grin. "You should see their Griffin some time," she winked before taking his cock into her mouth, lapping at his barbs with the lightly roughened surface of her tongue.

"Ohhh, you have griffons on this world?" He shuddered, only just holding on to the ability to follow the conversation.

"Nope," she said briefly, kissing his tip and suckling one of the barbs _just_ below his head. "They kinda guess for a lot of 'em. Have a dragon too, but haven't gotten one of them yet," she explained before taking him into her mouth deeply again, his cock-head against the back of her throat as she purred happily, popping the second knot into his ass and starting to work it inside of him, rubbing the second one against his prostate as the first stretched him deeper than he'd thought anything would be likely to.

Jake trembled at the triple assault, his voice given over the mixture of whimpers and moans as she worked his body with far too much skill for their short time together.

"Marie ...." was all the warning he managed before his hips bucked up.

His thick, gooey seed sprayed up into her mouth as she pulled back a bit, just keeping his barbed tip in her mouth as she savored the taste of his juices, swallowing every drop before licking him clean tenderly.

"Mmm ... I think we'll leave that there, hmm?" She purred, sliding up to kiss him, letting him taste himself on her breath.

"Al-all right," he trembled, ready for whatever she wished to do with him.

"I want you inside me," she purred, kissing him again. "But I'll let you choose where," she rumbled, rubbing the slick lips of her pussy against his cock. "Up here, or be the first guy to ever get up under my tail?"

"Front," he shivered.

"Okay," she purred happily, picking up the lube and the last of the toys she wanted to use for now, a long, grey dildo that bore a striking resemblance to a feline shaft, except for the rounded 'barbs' on the tip instead of the harder ones all along the length of a real cat, or the rubbery ones of a kat. "Hold onto this for me?" She asked teasingly, pressing the base of it to Jake's lips.

"Mhph?" he made a surprised sound but accepted holding the glistening dildo in his mouth.

"Just for a few minutes," she giggled, lubing up the dildo before straddling him, guiding the tip up to the tight, pink pucker of her ass, starting to work it in with a deep groan, biting her lip with a whimper for every one of the tiny 'barbs' that worked up into her.

Once past the thicker head, it slid in fairly easily. She felt the shift when he let go, and moaned deeply when he slid his tongue forward to lick at the back edge of her pussy.

"Ooh... want me to stay up here for a while?" She asked him, looking down at him lovingly.

"If you scoot up a bit so I can get to you," he licked at her again, straining against his bonds.

She did just that, straddling his arms and head so he could have easy access to her sex, squeezing down lightly around the dildo in her ass as she leaned forward, giving him a good display of her body.

Without hesitation he ran his tongue along her swollen, soaking lower lips, enjoying the gooey taste of her arousal as he began to work at pleasuring her again with actual skill, rather than just a willingness to do as she pleased.

Marie purred deeply, moaning as he spread the lips of her sex with his tongue and started to lap at her fragrant, sensitive flesh.

"Oooh... w-want me to... let you go?" She asked through her groans of pleasure.

"Yes," he paused in his attentions only long enough to say it. She reached down, undoing one of the cuffs, letting his hands free as her pleasure mounted. Without hesitation they were on her hips, holding her fairly still and guiding her body to rock and shift to take best advantage of his mouth, teeth, tongue and whiskers as he worked her body.

His whiskers teased the insides of her thighs, his cool nose occasionally brushing her clit as she leaned back a bit.

"Close, Jake," she whimpered softly, her body tingling and teetering on the edge.

"Good," he purred against her sensitive flesh and pressed her tongue into her body while one hand reached back to gently move the dildo in her ass a bit.

She let out a soft, whimpering mewl as her body contracted, her juices flowing liberally down her thighs to mat the fur of Jake's muzzle as she came. Each swipe of his tongue made her cry and shudder as he continued to work her body until she sank down, unable to hold herself up.

"Still up for more?" he asked when she'd managed to catch her breath to an extent.

"Mmm ... mhm," she purred. "You can be in charge now though," she giggled, sliding down to hug him tightly. "Just leave our plugs in until after, mine at least? Want to feel you in me up against it."

He grinned and rolled over, pinning her under him and rubbed his hard cock against her quivering sex.

"Here, or in the shower, hot stuff?" He asked hungrily.

"Your call," she whimpered, licking his chin submissively before letting him claim a heated, hungry kiss.

"Both," he shivered and pressed into her body eagerly. He moaned deeply at the feel of the strange, knobby dildo in her body as he rubbed against it. "Think you'd like the real thing like this?" he asked headily.

"Oooh... probably better than this," she moaned, squeezing down around both lengths, milking his cock needily. "Love how you feel inside me," she panted and wrapped her legs around his as he thrust faster, very close to the edge himself even after all she'd done to him.

"Good," he rumbled and pressed his face against her neck, his fangs bared but held in check as he cried out with the first shot of semen that exploded into her body.

"Oh _yeah_ ," she moaned deeply, loving the feeling of his come deep in her body. "Mmm... love you, Jake," she murmured, kissing him tenderly as they recovered.

* * *

Chance crossed his fingers as he drove back towards the house the next morning, quietly praying that Jake hadn't gotten home yet. He was intensely grateful to see that the smaller tom's Cyclotron wasn't back yet; it meant pretty good odds that he was in time.

He hurried in, grabbing the bag from the Cafe off the back of the bike almost as an afterthought, even though it was the whole reason he'd had to go out again.

Okay, so that wasn't _quite_ right, but it was close enough to the truth.

He was just getting breakfast sat out for the two of them when he heard the door open and Jake come in.

"Somebody's up early," Jake called with amusement in his voice as he followed his nose, and the smells of both Cafe Diem and Chance's attempt at cooking, to the kitchen.

"Well, you weren't here to keep me up all night, so...." Chance teased, setting the wooden box he'd picked up the night before on the table before going out to meet Jake and give him a kiss. "Mmm... and I figured you'd probably be up for some breakfast," he chuckled.

"Among other things," Jake chuckled and kissed him back eagerly. "That's more than just breakfast though."

"Mmm ... well, the jeweler called last night, so I figured I might as well pick a few things up while you were out since it wasn't dark yet...." Chance grinned, guiding Jake into his seat and sliding the wooden box over. "Didn't want to open it until you were here though," he admitted.

"Sweet of you," Jake nuzzled him before Chance moved to sit down next to him. "That smells like everything I love most for breakfast."

"And, the second time around, it ought to be," Chance admitted sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head as he poured a couple large glasses of milk.

"Cafe Diem?" he didn't really have to guess.

"I did manage the toast myself," Chance grinned, honestly proud of managing that much.

"You're getting better then," Jake grinned at him.

"Well I'd have a hard time getting worse," Chance admitted as they both started their breakfasts. "I tried the bacon but... well, I figured that it was probably a bad thing when it started on fire," he blushed.

"Generally, yes," Jake raised an eyebrow at that. "You seemed to have gotten it under control, though."

"Yeah," Chance nodded. "I _did_ manage not to burn the kitchen down this time, so I must've been doing something right."

"Had the fire extinguisher closer at hand this time?" Jake chuckled after a bite of omelet. "I appreciate the thought."

"Yeah," Chance admitted. "So, after breakfast we see how the collars turned out?"

"I'd love to," he smiled and reached over to scritch Chance's jaw. "Maybe have a little fun while wearing them the first time?"

"Mmm... and nothing else?" Chance grinned. "By the way, just _what_ did Marie come up with that kept you over there two nights in a row?" He asked with a teasing grin.

"Her toybox," he ducked his head a bit.

"Hoo boy, I have a feeling I'll be watching for plain wrapped brown boxes at the door again," Chance chuckled, shaking his head. "Mmm... anything particularly good?"

"A couple," he grinned playfully. "She loaned them to me on the condition I return them washed."

"Mmm... so, they supposed to be used on you, me, or whichever we're in the mood for before returning them?" Chance grinned back, already having a few ideas for what to do after breakfast.

"Whatever seems good," Jake winked. "These humans have a good imagination for toys, I'll give them that."

"Can't blame 'em, given what I've seen of what they've actually got," Chance chuckled. "Mmm... think you're up for letting me pay you back for the last time you tied me up?" He asked with a teasing rumble.

"Ready to let you try," Jake grinned back with the challenge.

"Well I'm not gonna break out a whip, but I think I'll be able to manage," Chance grinned back, the two of them finishing up their breakfasts quickly.

"Mmm ... so, look at the collars?"

"Yes," Jake nodded and reached for the simple but beautifully crafted wooden box.

Chance leaned against Jake lightly as they both opened it up, looking at the two almost identical collars. Each was a soft velvet band, one significantly longer than the other, with a rich blue cameo carved into a three dimensional kat-head logo and the stylized TurboKat flying threw it. Different stones and materials created the black, red and gold of the design in its blue foundation.

"What?" Chance blinked as he looked at it and swore he could see the TurboKat rotate through a flight pattern.

"I have no idea how they did it, but yes, it does appear to move," Jake smiled and kissed him. "Cool?"

"Very cool," Chance purred, turning to kiss Jake, putting one of the collars around his neck and fastening it. "Love you," he smiled, kissing him again.

"I think I'm starting to really believe that," Jake murmured when they parted. "And understand," he lifted the larger of the two collars and fastened it. He caressed Chance's neck and jaw as he drew his hands away.

"Good," Chance smiled, wrapping his arms around Jake and standing up, kissing him deeply as he got used to the feeling of the velvet collar around his own throat, and the feel of it around Jake's. "It's well past time."

"Yes," he whispered deep in his throat, eager to surrender to the will of his partner.

"Mmm ... I seem to remember something about us only wearing these?" Chance purred, tracing his fingers along Jake's collar even as one hand worked to loosen his shirt.

"Plus a lot of sweat and come soon," Jake purred, eagerly helping his mate undress him with as much of a display as he could manage with the other tom so close.

"Mmm ... think you're up for a little video while we play?" Chance grinned, backing up to start undressing himself.

"I think so," he rumbled eagerly and worked on stripping his lover. "Anything in particular in mind?"

"Mmm ... let you see what I did to Cindy while I do the same to you?" Chance rumbled back, his sheath already filling out as Jake slid his jeans down.

"I like," Jake grinned and gave Chance's sheath a kiss as he knelt. "But I rather like right here too," he added as he nuzzled the tabby's heavy balls.

"Mmm ... start there then, we'll have some more fun after," Chance grinned, enjoying the view tremendously. "But I'm going to have you tied up with my come dripping out of your ass before the nights done," he promised with a throaty, lusty rumble.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Jake smiled and took one ball into his mouth to lavish with attention.

"Mmm ... good," Chance rumbled, reaching down to rub Jake's ears as his shaft slipped free, the cool air washing over it. "Willing to take... ooh... an extra chance today?" He asked, not particularly worried about keeping Jake from distracting him as his balls started to tingle pleasantly.

"When am I not, with you?" he shivered in excitement, his tongue carefully grooming the velvety fur in front of him.

"Oh... just not sure if you'd want to risk the window," Chance grinned down at him, one hand shifting down to grip Jake's scruff in a mimic of his own bite.

"Ohh, after an alley behind _the_ dance club, I think I can," Jake shivered in excitement as he slowly worked his way up Chance's sheath, excited even more by the thick musk of his mate and only constant in his adult life.

"Good," Chance rumbled deeply, scritching between his ears. "Come on into the living room then," he grinned, reluctantly stepping back and leaving Jake on his knees. It was only a moment before Jake followed on all fours, eager to get his mouth around Chance's cock again.

Chance looked back, a little surprised, but he just rumbled pleasantly at the openly submissive display, going over to the window next to the TV and opening the blinds so that they could see out, and anybody who cared to could see in.

"Now, where were we?" Chance purred, shifting so the sun coming through the window made a nice profile further into the room where Jake was.

"I believe I was about to make you roar," Jake grinned and rose to kneel in front of him again. Without a sound he cupped Chance's balls in one hand while he licked his way back up to the hard rod of flesh that was his goal.

"Oh yeah," Chance groaned, spreading his legs, his tail swishing back and forth happily as he reached down to rub Jake's ears, moaning deeply as the lean tom finally took his cock into his mouth. There was something incredibly erotic about being on display to the public within the security of their home. Not quite as erotic as Jake at his submissive best, but it sure made the show he was looking down at all the better.

"Mmm ... not gonna be long," he warned Jake. "C'mon... show everybody how good you are," he purred.

He was obliged with his lover's tongue sliding across the slit in the head of his cock while a knowing hand with unsheathed claws teased the rubbery barbs below.

Chance groaned, the first spurts of his seed hitting Jake's tongue and chin before Jake swallowed him to the sheath and worked him with his throat as well as his tongue until the tabby was spent and Jake had to hold him up. With his arms wrapped around Chance's ass, Jake slowly let the cock slide from his mouth and licked it clean.

"Damn you are hot, kat," Chance purred deeply, reaching down to scratch Jake's ears. "Mmm... now, stand up and let's get you ready for the real show."

Jake stood with a seductive grace, his body relaxed and waiting for anything he was instructed to do.

"Mmm ... go over where you had me tied up, I'm gonna go get the ropes," Chance told him, heading back to the bedroom for the soft silk cords before returning and tying Jake's feet and hands into place, pressing against his back and scratching his chest lightly.

"You just want me in you, or you want a little payback for the whip first?" The stocky tabby asked with a purr.

"Hurt me," Jake groaned and pressed into the sharp claws at his chest, his body trembling in anticipation.

Chance curled his fingers a bit, dragging his claws lightly down Jake's chest, opening shallow, narrow cuts that quickly left tiny streaks through his fur. Chance moved around, licking up some of Jake's blood. The coppery taste wasn't really his thing, but he knew it gave Jake a thrill as he reached over and grabbed the remote blindly, starting the DVD he already had in the player. The big TV next to the window lit up, showing as Chance started tying Cindy up in much the way he had Jake now.

"I didn't do _half_ the things to her that I'm going to do to you," Chance promised his mate with a deep, rumbling purr, kissing him with crimson-stained lips that his mate licked at submissively and eagerly.

"I am yours," Jake whispered, hungry in a way he rarely acknowledged around Chance.

"All mine," Chance agreed, raking his claws down Jake's back carefully, digging them into his ass possessively. It was one of those things that he found appealing more for his lover's reaction that what it did for him. The way Jake whimpered and moaned, the shamelessness of his desire, was more than enough to make up for the odd taste of blood.

He reached down, squeezing Jake's balls a little roughly as he moved around behind him again.

"You want me inside you?" He purred, nipping Jake's shoulder, just hard enough to draw a little blood.

"Yes, please," Jake pressed into the bite, his cock rock hard and desperate for release.

Chance shifted, forcing his cock up into Jake's ass hard and fast, growling as he shifted to bit down on Jake's scruff hard. He started thrusting, even as on the TV screen he did the same to the woman he'd been with that night, taking her almost the same way he was taking his mate now. Cars drove by on the street outside, the two of them entirely exposed to anybody who happened to look.

As Chance hammered Jake's prostate, quickly working them both towards the edge of orgasm, a canine head popped up above the windowsill. Both toms were more or less oblivious as Lojack settled in to watch the show curiously, listening to them roar in orgasm and then keep going.

Ropes, cutting each other with claws, something running in the corner of the room where he couldn't see it that sounded like other people having sex ... and it wasn't even a female.

Two-leggers were _so_ strange about things.


	7. Hell Across the Globe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaeger's plans gear up, Jo wakes up to a nasty surprise and Jake and Chance are given a very sharp reminder that they are not the baddest boys on the block anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written with Karl Wolfemann

"I can't believe we're actually leaving work to eat," Marie giggled as she took her helmet off with her feet on solid ground after a breathtaking ride behind Jake on his Cyclotron. "And so _early_ . It's actually lunch time."

"You and me both, but when Chance gets insistent ...." he shrugged. "It's not like I can really say no to the guy."

"You two are _so_ mushy," she giggled again and walked to the front door with him.

"Unless we're feeling kinky," Jake winked at her and opened the door, not sure himself what was going down. "Lunch smells good at least."

"You expect anything else from Cafe Diem?" Chance laughed easily from the couch watching TV. "I was wondering if you'd gotten sidetracked," he grinned at the pair and got up, clicking the TV off.

"So what's up?" Jake asked.

"Oh, come on, can't a guy have a surprise and keep it for a bit?" Chance tried to pout, and failed miserably.

"We'll see," Jake grinned at him playfully. "I take it the food is first?"

"When isn't it?" Chance laughed again and headed for the kitchen table with them. "Japanese, Vincent style, so gods only know what it really is."

"Except good," Jake sat down. "Plenty of sushi, I see."

"He'd be crazy not to, with you two ordering." Marie winked at Chance and sat down to take a fair share of a first course. "Besides, there's plenty of other things. Are those plum rice balls?" She asked, indicating a small tray.

"I think so," Chance answered uncertainly. "I didn't really pay much attention," he admitted.

"Vincent doesn't mess up," Jake grinned after a large piece of sushi went down. "No matter how unpronounceable it is."

"The more unpronounceable, the harder it is to _make_ him mess up," Marie giggled, picking up the chopsticks that had come along with the order and snagging a takoyaki and one of the rice balls. "Matter of honor," she chuckled. "So, how were things going today?"

"Perfectly," Chance purred with a wicked grin. "Everything's ready."

"Ready for what?" Jake looked between them, but focused on Chance.

"It's a surprise," the tabby smirked.

"Mmm ... you'll see after lunch," Marie giggled.

"I think I should be worried," Jake eyed the pair warily.

"But you know you'll enjoy it," Chance grinned. "No matter what we do."

"I dunno, I think if we dipped him in liquid latex and put him out on the lawn as a piece of statuary, he'd be pretty pissed," Marie mused, her eyes glittering mischievously behind her new glasses.

"Yeah, but neither of you want to live with the fallout," Jake chuckled.

"You have _no_ idea how vicious he can get on revenge," Chance grinned and downed another fish and rice creation. "It's not safe."

"I'd just blame it on you," she teased, picking up another takoyaki, feeding him the ball of deep-fried octopus and watching intently as he licked it from the chopsticks with an intentionally seductive curl of his tongue and expression. 

"Reminds me of that one very fun toy of yours," Chance purred softly.

"Mmm ... one of these days I ought to introduce the two of you to tentacle porn," she giggled. "Maybe when I come over to stay."

"Tentacle porn?" Jake raised an eyebrow.

"Usually animated porn where the characters - usually girls, but not always - end up having sex with aliens or demons or something else that usually has lots and lots of surprisingly phallic tentacles," Marie chuckled. "Level of willingness varies, but it's a surprisingly popular genre over where most of the food we're eating now was first made. Just gimme a heads up if you're looking it up on your own. There's a couple out there I've heard of you _won't_ want to watch."

"Right," Jake nodded.

"Why?" Chance looked at her curiously, honestly not that sure there was _anything_ that they wouldn't watch.

"Like I said, level of willingness varies," she pointed out. "Non-con is one thing, at least when it's all fake and there aren't even real actors... but some of it gets real messy. Legend of the Overfiend's considered a classic of the genre, but I couldn't even get half-way through it, and it actually has something resembling a story. Hentai, that sort of animated porn, tends to get _really_ far out there with the kinks sometimes."

"Gotcha," Chance nodded. "At least it's just pictures."

"Oh yeah," she nodded. "Mmm ... there is _one_ kink they've got over there that I could see my way to getting into though," she giggled, glancing over at Jake to see how he was taking the direction the conversation was going in. She had to admit she was pleased at his clear interest, even if he didn't completely understand where she was headed.

"Oh?" Chance grinned at her and leaned forward a bit.

"Mmm ... rumor has it that there are restaurants and sushi bars, high class ones, where the table's an attractive girl, practically naked, laid out on the table with the food over... particular spots," she winked. "The _very_ high class ones, she _is_ naked, and you don't necessarily have to pick up the food before you eat it off of her."

"I could definitely go for that," Chance rumbled eagerly. "What a way to make the food better."

"Assuming you bother to _eat_ ," Jake chuckled with a bemused shake of his head. "Godda admit, it sounds fun."

"Mmm ... so, Japanese takeout for two, if you guys can clear the table?" Marie suggested with a purr.

Despite Jake's surprise, he and Chance made quick work of moving everything off the table while Marie stripped down.

"Did I mention that I took the liberty of signing us both up for the afternoon off?" She teased Jake as she climbed onto the table and laid herself out, legs spread, arms against her sides as Chance set the food out carefully on top of her again.

"No," Jake murmured as he watched, more than a bit fascinated by it all. "Why do I smell a conspiracy here?" he looked between his mate and lover.

"Maybe because you kinda requested one, as I understand it," Chance smirked, kissing him lightly. "This part hadn't really been planned, but it works for me."

"I ..." Jake blinked, then laughed as the memory drifted back. "You two are a menace."

"We try," Marie giggled. "Mmm ... now c'mon, it's lunchtime," she winked up at him, reaching up to tickle his chin carefully.

"Which is going to lead to an entirely different kind of feast, I'm sure," Jake licked his lips and leaned down to take the piece of sushi from between her breasts, his whiskers ticking the sensitive skin to either side of his muzzle.

"That's the idea," Chance grinned, moving down by Marie's legs and taking another piece of sushi from just above her sex, 'accidentally' letting the fish fall off and picking it up with his teeth as Marie groaned at the feeling of the slick, cool meat sliding along her short fur and skin.

"So what does the table care to have served to her?" Jake grinned down at her playfully, one claw tracing it's way along the curves of her upper body.

"Mmm ... depends on if she's supposed to bite or just -" a phone rang, earning a groan from all three of them.

"Okay, I _know_ I arranged for the time off, so it's not somebody wondering where the heck we are at work," Marie muttered.

"That one's mine," Chance sounded more curious than anything as he followed the sound to where he'd left it this time. "It's too early for Cindy, and she knows I'm busy today. Hello?" he picked it up. " _WHAT_ ? Right, we'll be right there," he couldn't keep the intense excitement from his voice.

"Lunch just got called off," Jake called over his shoulder, not even waiting to find out what was going on before going for their uniforms.

"Wait, wha-" 

"Just stay put, okay?" Chance paused to tell her. "It is _not_ safe out there right now."

"But ...." Marie was interrupted by the sound of the door slamming, the Turbokat taking off shortly afterwards. "Well... more for me," she mused, reaching down and taking a piece of sushi off her belly, laying back and munching on it idly as she tried to figure out what the heck to do now.

* * *

"I can't _believe_ they're still locking us all up at sundown," Jenny griped as she and Zoe went outside for lunch.

"At least _your_ Dad can't threaten to stick you in a cell if you're not home in time and mean it," Zoe agreed, taking a seat next to her younger friend.

"No, he just threatened to fit me with a shock collar," Jenny muttered. "At least _yours_ didn't invent the invisible electric fence."

"That'd suck," Zoe admitted. "But you don't have to have badly rattled hunters camped out in your house cause they think it's safe," she rolled her eyes. "Jo's not bad, even if she's really weird right now, but Taggart is _no_ fun to have around, especially around her."

"Ugh, all lovey-dovey and stuff?" Jenny shuddered. "Remember them from the big dance."

"More like two lions fighting for control," Zoe shuddered a bit. "Even my _Dad_ steers clear when they get going about who needs to be more careful. Lovey-dovey tends to be when they're in their room at least."

"Okay, why the heck are _those_ two so scared of this thing?"

"Nobody'll tell me that, but something happened to Jo just before they moved in and I think whatever they're after got his hands on her," Zoe shrugged. "I know it's got six kills, and some of them are GD security wearing some kind of force field armor that should have made them invulnerable."

"That is _wild_ ," Jenny murmured.

"Yeah, so was the body outside our house when this first started," Zoe muttered. "I'd never seen anybody that mangled before."

"Okay, since we're eating lunch? How about a _different_ topic," Jenny suggested. "How's it going with the theater production... what was it, Narnia?"

"Well, it was at least," Zoe giggled. "Putman's reimagining it. It's ... interesting."

"It always is," Jenny grinned. "He cast you as the Ice Queen, didn't he? Must've thought you did pretty well as Pu-" She was interrupted by the sound of sirens from the inside of the school. "Why'd they have a fire drill during lunch?"

"They wouldn't," Zoe was already standing as she grabbed Jenny's arm. "Come on, this is for real."

"We're already outside and away from the building," Jenny pointed out, even as she started following Zoe away, and realized that the people coming out of the building weren't coming out in any sort of ordered manner....

And that they were screaming, almost each and every one of them.

With one hand Zoe grabbed her phone and speed dialed her father, Jo and Taggart as a conference call.

"Zoe?" Carter responded first. "Somebody had better be on fire."

"You're not that far off Dad, something's -"

"Holy _shit_ !" Jenny gasped as a hulking grey figure slammed out through the doors, grabbing one of the fleeing teachers and swinging her around, smashing her head into the wall before gutting her, throwing her into a throng of students running as fast as they could.

"Dad, monster, school," Zoe said, cutting out everything but what was important as she grabbed Jenny again and started running even faster, praying he'd waste time with the people closer before coming for them ... or, better, just _leave_ now that he'd killed somebody.

She knew better. This was what had Jo and Taggart so wound up. This was what her father couldn't talk about.

This was a creature strait from the corner of hell labeled 'Global Dynamics Biotech'.

"Run _faster_ ," she hissed at Jenny as she angled them for the crowd. There was no hiding from this thing. There was only safety in numbers and trying to work towards where her father would be pulling up with heavy artillery even by Eureka standards.

"Running... already!" Jenny pointed out, panting as the beast caught somebody going for a bike, ripping his head from his body, blood shooting from his body in a grotesque fountain.

The beast focused in on them, two young women alone in the killing field, and charged at them with a howling roar.

"Crap, crap, crap," Zoe snarled under her breath even as she fumbled for the small plastic gun with it's special bullets that Taggart had given her the day he'd moved in, under condition that she didn't tell her father or Jo. 

She had been more than happy to comply.

The rapid popping of a weapon closer to the school drew the beast's attention as it was nailed with wave after wave of focused sound energy that made it scream in agony.

Zoe managed to fish the gun out of her bag, flipping off the safety as she whirled around, aiming as well as she could afford to before she started pulling the trigger, firing and aiming and firing again. She wasn't fast, but she didn't have to be _too_ fast to get all six shots off, privately sickened by the massive holes ripped into the creature's chest and back.

It was abruptly the least of her concerns as she realized that it was still coming. Slower, bleeding profusely, and in an absolute fury, but still coming.

"Run, girl!" Jenny yelled as she pulled Zoe, both of them shocked still until the creature started their way. At least now it was slower than they were, and the teacher was still firing at it with the sonic gun.

Zoe dropped the gun and turned to follow her, everything seeming to move in slow motion.

She couldn't help but think of all the old horror movies she'd watched, where the girl like her ended up getting ripped from stem to stern, not able to run from the creature that was loping along behind her despite moving two, three times as fast.

She wondered how long it would hurt when it caught up with her... and how her Dad would tell her mother about it. If he would.

This was not how she pictured going out, not even after moving to this town of crazy dangers.

Jenny started to fall behind, out of breath and strength despite the adrenaline pushing her. It was all Zoe could do to keep her going, then she abruptly shifted direction and pushed Jenny the other way. 

_She_ was the target, not Jenny. With the focus that had gotten her this far Zoe made her way towards the building. Get through it and there was the parking lot where help would be.

Or at least a car to hotwire to get the hell out of here in.

She pulled open the first door of the first car she found that looked familiar, tossing her bag into the passenger seat and grabbing what she'd need as quickly as she could. She was just about to get at the wires when the creature hammered its fist into the hood, punching the hood up like it was tinfoil. She looked up at it, sheer terror in her eyes and scent as the other fist came through the window, tempered glass cutting at her face.

She screamed, and there was incredible heat just above her along with blinding light. When she blinked her eyes clear there was only sky above her, and someone screaming and pounding on the door to the car.

She looked over, and almost sobbed as she saw her father there. She pulled the lock button up, almost falling out of the car as everything started to crash in on her, the realization of what had just happened.

"Are you okay?" her father's demand finally managed to focus her enough to nod. "Good. What happened?" he asked firmly even as he held her tightly. "Focus, honey. I need to know what happened."

"He... wolf... wolf monster, came out of the school," she managed to stammer. "K-killing people... no reason, just... just because they were th - Jenny!" She said, looking up at him, trying to look around him. "Is Jenny okay, she was right there when he came for me...."

"I don't know, honey," he held her tightly. "Jo and Taggart are chasing the beast. I have to deal with this ... crime scene," he looked at her seriously. "I don't want you anywhere but with me, but I don't want you to have to see any more than you have already."

"I-it should be safe at home, right?" She asked, wrapping her arms around herself as she tried not to think of the blood and death she'd just seen. She saw Jenny being led off by one of the agents who'd come following him, and led out a deep sigh of relief. She looked like she was okay... as okay as any of them were, anyways.

"As safe as anywhere outside of Level 5," he nodded and hesitated again.

"Chance can take me home," she suggested. "He will if you ask him, and he can outrun that thing easy."

And, if he had to, the bike could probably blow it to kingdom come from what he'd said.

"Okay," Carter nodded slightly. "You're staying with me until he's here though. Don't know where that thing's gotten to now," he admitted.

* * *

"No, no, this is _not_ acceptable!" Dr. Nathan Stark groaned as he heard Fargo's voice from outside his office.

"If that little sycophant is obsessing about another late shipment for the vending machines...." He muttered to himself, standing up and heading out the door. He was more than a little surprised to see his diminutive assistant _physically_ trying to block the door and keep Dr. Andrews from leaving.

"I _am_ going!" He shouted at Fargo.

"Fargo!" Stark interrupted before the fight could go any further. "What's going on here?"

"Dr. Stark! E-everybody's starting to leave, Dr. Andrews is the fifth person today to leave without _any_ warning and -"

"And? Fargo, this is Global Dynamics. This is _Eureka_ . As long as they meet their deadlines and keep their appointments, I don't care if everybody leaves," Stark pointed out. "John, I'm sorry about this, have a good afternoon," he said politely to Andrews, pulling Fargo out of the way so the taller scientist could leave. He did... not bothering to so much as grunt at Fargo on the way by, a concerned expression on his face.

"I want you to find out what's going on around here, Fargo," Stark said firmly. "You said five people have already headed out?"

"Six," Fargo corrected him as Dr. Joyce Fils left, purse over her shoulder, keys in hand, lab-coat half off and at nearly a dead run.

" _Definitely_ find out what's up," Stark said, frowning and starting back to his office. Joyce almost never left early, unless her daughter had a school function of some sort ... and nothing like that was scheduled, at least.

It did give a likely place to start as he sat down and pulled up anything to happen at the school, or on the sheriff's radio, in the past few hours.

He looked up at the door buzzer, more than a little surprised to see Dr Bret Sanders. "Come in."

"I really must go get my kids," the openly distressed blond man told him. "I am sorry for the short notice, sir."

"Bret, you've got the presentation for the licensing staff this afternoon," Stark pointed out. "Can't your wife get them?"

"I've got the car, sir, and there's no time to wait for the cab," Bret said, shaking his head and starting out for the door before Nathan could say anything more.

"If somebody's science project was genetically engineered chicken pox again," Stark muttered quietly to himself, returning to his report - and looking up, shocked, as he saw Allison literally _running_ past the door.

He was up in a flash, moving to see just what was happening.

"Allison?" He called out after her, moving to follow her to the door.

"Have to get Kevin," she barely paused, her expression bordering on raw panic. "Get ready to house most of Eureka for a while. That monster has gone on the rampage."

"Where?" Stark asked, running to catch up with her. "I'll drive."

"The school," she told him as he came even with her. "Kids, teachers are dead. Don't know much else right now."

"I _really_ hope these rumors are wrong," he muttered quietly, moving faster as they ran out to his car, starting it up and pulling out while Allison was still buckling up.

"They aren't," she told him grimily. "I heard from Sheriff Carter."

Stark pulled out his cell phone and hit Carter's speed-dial, his expression grim as he sped up and tried to weave through traffic as well as he could.

"Damn it, you'd think the Sheriff's _private line_ wouldn't be busy just now," he muttered as the traffic got thicker, forcing him to slow down.

He blinked as he saw a Global Dynamics Security officer out this far directing traffic, of all things. Then a sound above him had his full attention as a decidedly unique looking fighter blasted into the area with full thrusters, swung around and found a landing space somewhere ahead of them, likely at the school.

The Security officer recognized his car, and stopped the other traffic, ignoring the blaring horns and just waving his lane through until he'd made it through the blocked intersection. The unintentional display of status and power - and, frankly, one that he normally wouldn't have desired - let him reach the school with the minimum amount of delays possible. Before long, he was in a sea of cars, Allison jumping out almost as soon as the car had stopped to run and find Kevin while he stepped out and looked around.

He couldn't say it was like a warzone, but that only made it worse. The outer walls of the school were stained with blood and other things, and he was sure that the inside was worse, to judge by how everybody stayed away from the safety that its walls would normally have offered. There were at least a dozen bodies littering the grounds, adults and children alike. His security officers were being kept busy just holding back screaming throngs of parents, trying to get through, to find their children or spouses. Wails of anguish marked every time somebody managed to identify a body. Keeping some semblance of peace and order was well beyond anybody's ability... even his.

Stark's stomach churned as the paramedics led somebody he couldn't recognize away from a body whose head had been completely smashed in, and he found himself incredibly grateful that he hadn't remembered to have lunch yet. He had a feeling he wouldn't be having it for quite some time yet.

His gaze zeroed in on the jet parked on the grass and he headed for it, sure whatever passed for leadership here would be drawn to the alien pair as well. He was sure they'd been called, rather than just dropped in, but either way they would be given orders quickly.

"This close enough to town to warrant calling 'em in?" Carter asked Stark rhetorically as he approached the jet. Nathan couldn't even bring himself to snap back at him as Jo and Taggart arrived.

"We've got things as close to under control as they're going to get," Jo said, looking back at the killing field that the playground had been turned into. "It's worse inside," she said grimly, confirming Stark's worst fears.

"Why _here_ though?" Stark asked, looking around, unable to come up with more than two options... both of which scared him, badly.

The first was that Jaeger was planning something, somewhere, and wanted everybody kept busy. The other option, that the psychopath simply enjoyed killing enough that this was his idea of fun or stress release... it was, quite probably, worse than the first one.

"He wants to keep us busy," Jo told him without a trace of doubt. "He's a psychopath, sociopath and gets off on killing, but he would never do something this blatant and risky without a greater gain to be gotten by it. He's not stupid."

"If he's trying to get into Global, he's got most of our security out here now," Stark murmured.

"Jo... he _doesn't_ know the access codes to the armory, does he?" Carter asked his deputy.

"No, but it won't take him long to either figure them out or simply break in," she pointed out.

"Okay, top two targets?" T-Bone, wearing what they had first seen him in, broke in.

"Global Dynamics main facility and Dr. Jean Moreau," Jo told him.

"Why Dr. Moreau?" Razor asked, sounding nearly sick as he realized that Jean might not be the only target in the family.

"Dr. Moreau created him, and he wants to create more of his kind," she explained the basics.

"I'll send a team of GD security to secure his house and find where he is," Stark said. "Global is a more likely target; we'd have the supplies Dr. Moreau would need, and he doesn't know if Jean is there, or at his house. Makes more sense that he would try to take care of both targets at once, if it's possible."

"Agreed," Jo nodded. "He has a superb sense of solo and small-group mission tactics, and this is a mission to him."

"Okay, so where are we going to do the most good?" Razor asked, trying to focus away from Marie.

"Patrolling the area around GD," Stark told him. "If he does show up, you've got the best chance of stopping him fast and finding him in the forest.

"What _are_ the odds he's going to go for the storage locker in the office?" Carter asked Jo seriously.

"Pretty low," she shook her head even as the kats leapt into their jet and lifted off. "Those weapons are nothing to him. If he goes for hardware, it'll be a weapon depot inside Global. They have _much_ better equipment than we do."

If it wasn't for the situation, Stark knew he'd be fascinated to watch this VTOL system in action, but he couldn't care just now.

"We'll join you at GD as soon as we've finished up out here then," Carter told Stark. "Might want to start looking for backup for Beverly... she'll be booked up solid for years after this."

"The situation has been anticipated," Stark told him. "It will be under control when they get to her."

"Anywhere else, and I'd be worried that they'd anticipated something that could put half the town in therapy," Carter muttered as he went back to work clearing up the scene.

* * *

Jaeger licked some of the blood off his muzzle, carefully stalking up to the house he'd tracked Marie Moreau to. It was a fairly unassuming place on a very large lot well away from the main suburbs. As he approached in full-wolf form, he recognized that the vehicles in the back were anything _but_ unassuming.

Figured that she would have taken up with a weapon designer. With a little luck, they'd be out at the school along with everybody else, dealing with his little... diversion. That was the one real problem with his plan, actually. He didn't think Marie would have gone there, but it was possible. If she had, he'd have to wait until she came back.

He sniffed the air and suddenly understood why she was so interested in this pair; they weren't human.

Well, that was a Moreau for you.

He started up towards the house again, circling around to the back where he could shift and attack without being seen.

He kept his body low; the grass here, like in most of Eureka, was short and green, making it less than ideal for moving unseen.

Someone was moving around the house, someone with light feel and a soft voice. Most likely Marie; the two male scents here spoke of strong, powerful, dominant individuals, not academics.

He froze, not a single muscle in his body twitching when the ground depressed a little too much with a slightly harder feeling than it should. There was no click, but he had no expectations of such a primitive devices here to defend a home.

The world froze for what felt like an eternity as he looked around carefully, trying to identify what sort of trap he'd nearly triggered... and how to get off of it without setting it off for real. He carefully shifted his weight off the pressure pad, hoping that he hadn't armed it yet, but every sense on alert in case he had to move fast.

His brain didn't even fully recognize what was moving from all directions towards him in a sheet wave when he lept strait up and twisted hard to get out of the space.

Only when he landed on his feet did he realize that it was a net trap -- a metallic net -- design to catch you no matter what direction you were moving, except for strait up.

It was crackling with electricity as well, scorching the grass. A hissing sound, just beneath the crackling, alerted the werewolf to the release of a faint gas. He moved back, away from the house, stumbling as he shifted into his crinos form to better deal with the sedative and try to figure out how to get in from here.

It was obviously not go to be a walk in and grab job. This place was starting to make Jo and Taggart look downright lax with their security.

Another step and and audible click didn't give him enough time to move out of the way of a hollow ball that suddenly engulfed his foot and began to fill with something thick and cool.

He reached down, prying the globe open, ripping it apart and letting flood of quick-drying cement flow away from his leg as he ripped his foot free and backed away further, the cement still trying in his fur.

He took off, leaving the house and well-defended yard. Jean first; he could get Marie later, use her father as bait.

For now, he needed to finish his work before they realized what he was up to and came after him in force....

It was only a mile, a little bit more, to Jean's house, just down the block from Marie's. As Jaeger approached, once again in his smallest form, he flicked his tail in irritation at the alert GD security officers waiting for him.

This was why he'd wanted to get Marie first. Stretch them out over the two crime scenes, then get Jean while he was looking for his daughter. Instead, he was going to have to reverse it... but they _expected_ him to go for this target.

Just meant he'd have to be messy about it.

He moved carefully onto the property, thankfully much more heavily vegetated than the previous one and began to stalk the officers, intending to take at least the first couple down quietly.

A high-pitched screech from above, a monkey he recognized instantly, draw attention right to him.

He shifted immediately, his body warping and twisting painfully as he reached up and ripped the winged monkey's cage down, crushing the creature out of sheer spite before he lunged for the GD agents, weaving back and forth to be harder to hit.

The first shot fired warned him that while they were very well armed, the chance of it being actually fatal was low, as long as he kept moving.

The bigger question was whether or not anybody else was here... like Jo. He couldn't smell her, but if she was here, a hit from the high-tech weapons being used against him could prove to be a fatal distraction.

He grabbed one of them, throwing him across the street before ripping the plasma rifle out of another's hand and using it like a club, smashing him half-way across the yard.

He knew from the blue crackle around them on impact that they had those damn force fields on again. He could still kill, but it took a very specific kind of hit that he just didn't have the time for. It restricted him to the much less satisfying process of tossing them around like rag dolls.

All around him he registered periodic movement of small creatures, but none were trying to come near him; they were running away from his target building, and him.

Most of them were the genetic creations that Jean had put together throughout his career, and continued to in the course of making little 'pets.' Jaeger couldn't really understand the fascination, but the old man's continued efforts to keep his skills sharp meant that he'd be just as capable now as he had been when he'd been in charge of Lycos.

Just how Jaeger needed him.

He tossed one of the GD's through the front door, breaking it down and stalking in - only to take several hundred pounds of bone and muscle to the chest, snarling teeth clamped around his face as something out of a nightmare attacked him.

He kicked up and clawed on pure reflex. Whatever this thing was, it was _huge_ , even larger than his crinos by a fair margin. He had to get out of its grip.

He kicked it off of himself, then twisted around to his feet, looking at the snarling creature as it started to circle him, moving to stay between him and the house.

It was something like a dog and a bear, all rolled into one... a mastiff straight out of Hell. Its body didn't look quite right ... but it was clearly nasty enough to be a threat, especially with time to be of the essence. It didn't have to kill him to stop him. It only had to delay him enough for reinforcements to arrive with bigger weapons.

The thing charged him again, and he dodged to the side, letting it grab hold of his arm. Ignoring the pain of having it disjointed and the meat nearly shredded off, he brought his free hand down on its spine. He grabbed hold, twisting until he felt its spine break and held on until its body went lax. He left it twitching, his arm healing as he went into the house.

"Oh, father," Jaeger called with a warped playfulness. "It's time to come out and play."

"All this havoc, just to try and kill me?" Jean asked him, sitting surprisingly calmly in the front room of his house, walking stick across his lap. The only sign that he was at all nervous was the slight fidgeting with the head of it.

"Kill you?" Jaeger chuckled, a decidedly unsettling sound from the wolf-man form he was in. "Now why would I want to kill the man that gave me the greatest gift in the world? I intend to see the Moreau dream made reality, for it is mine as well."

"The only dream I ever had was to save lives, to improve them," Jean said icily. "Unfortunately, it seems that everything I've done with you has worked against it. I'm actually glad that you're here. It means those bureaucrats back in Washington don't have a right to keep me from stopping you anymore." He flipped up the top of his walking stick, revealing a series of small, concealed buttons. He pressed the first of the five, turning away from Jaeger... then, when nothing happened, he looked back up at him, confusion in his eyes and scent.

"Sorry to disappoint you, father," Jaeger laughed deeply and took a step closer. "We had to have that little trick removed."

"How... they were designed to explode if they were tampered with...." Jean stammered as Jaeger picked him up, the walking stick falling to the ground, closed.

"Only if you did it without the right code," Jaeger reminded him. "I'm sure you didn't intend for us to know they were even there, but we found out, and we fixed them without alerting anyone," he added and trotted outside with his prize. "Don't worry, I really _do_ want you alive... and I don't really blame you for planting a bomb in my skull and on my heart."

* * *

Marie looked up from her laptop as she heard the front door open. She closed the computer and hurried out to meet Jake and Chance, still in their flight suits and looking more than a little haggard.

"What the _Hell_ is happening here?" She asked them. "First you two rush out, then the windows all seal themselves off somehow... I can't get a hold of anybody, not by phone, email, anything."

"Hell is about right," Razor hugged her tightly, his entire body trembling. "Do you know who Jaeger is, or about the Lycos Project?" he asked as he reluctantly let her go.

"Mmm ... no," she admitted, thinking back. "I think I was working on one of my degrees when Dad mentioned it, but he didn't give me any details. What's happened?" She asked again.

"It's come back to bite our tails in a big way," Razor sighed as he and T-Bone pulled their helmet's and masks off. "Think nearly invulnerable werewolf with a seriously bad temper."

"He tore through the school, then came here," Chance told her.

"That's when the place went on lockdown," Jake added. "We rushed off when we were called to help hunt it from the school."

"The school?" Marie asked, sitting down and feeling sick at the thought. "Did he...?"

"Yeah," Chance nodded softly. "It's _real_ bad."

"Wh...why would he come here though?"

"For you," Jake said quietly as he walked over to his computer and began checking what was going on and how much security had been penetrated. "Next time he won't be nearly as hard to deter."

"Yeah, Jo says he wants to have more of his kind created, and your father created the first group," Chance added. "It's going to get really ugly before it gets better."

"That still doesn't explain why he'd want...." She trailed off, realizing just _why_ he'd wanted her. "I was supposed to be bait. Dad's gonna be next," she said, almost needlessly, getting up and heading for the door only to run squarely into Chance's broad body.

"You are not going anywhere," he told her with a mixture of grim determination and regret.

"You're more than bait, Marie," Jake reminded her as he moved to hug her from behind. "You can do it too," he nuzzled her. "You are walking proof that you can do what he wants. With both of you, he can create an army."

"I don't have a _clue_ how to do what he wants," she pointed out. "The process I've got takes months, if he's a werewolf of some sort then he can change in minutes... dammit, Dad, that explains how you always knew...." She growled lowly, shaking her head. "Look, I'm not just going to let that _thing_ take him!"

"What can _you_ do that Global's security forces and your own father's creations can't?" Jake asked her seriously.

"I can at least _warn_ him," she pointed out, her still-human ears twitching at their vaguely pointed tips and trying to flatten, more irritated at the suggestion... more reminder... that she couldn't really _do_ anything for her father than anything else.

"He has been warned, Global has a squad of it's best protecting him," Jake reminded her. "They want to lose him less than you do, I expect."

"Not possible," she mrowled irritably, backing up and sitting down, folding her arms across her chest, feet tapping. "I couldn't call him ... line was busy every time I tried. What if he _did_ go for him first?"

"Then either Jaeger is very dead, or your father is well past warning," Jake pointed out, then sighed. "Look, will you stay put if you go up in the jet with us and see for yourself one way or another?"

"It's better than nothing," she said softly. "I just... I have to _know_ ," she sighed.

"Come on then," Jake picked up his helmet. "Let's see what's there."

Marie was up and following them out quickly, no suit or gear to get on, her worry clear in her scent as she climbed into the TurboKat along with T-Bone and Razor.

"If we spot Jaeger, sit down and brace yourself on something," T-Bone reminded her as they took off.

"And be grateful he can't fly," Razor added as she settled down in front of him.

"Surprised they _didn't_ have Dad work that in too, he's been making the monkeys long enough," she murmured. Eureka looked almost like a ghost town already; everybody who could had already locked themselves up safely, whether at home or at Global. The only folks that were out were the various security vehicles, and towards her father's home, both sheriff vehicles and Taggart's jeep.

"Probably too difficult in a shifting race that has to look human," Razor said absently as he watched the convergence on where they were headed. "I think he already got him."

"Can we touch down?" Marie asked hopefully, holding out a bit of hope that he might be there yet.

"How about just ask?" Razor opened the comm line that they were being hailed on. "What is it, Jo?"

"Dr. Moreau's been taken. Do you know where Marie is?"

"With us," he answered. "She insisted on checking on him. Jaeger tried to break in to our place to get her, but found it tougher than expected. How can we help?"

"For now, get her back undercover, then see if you can find something really, _really_ big, canine, and probably nasty by now."

"Chien's out?" Marie asked.

"We thought Jaeger'd killed him, but he got up and took off, moving slowly, not long after we got here," Taggart confirmed. "Looks like your father'd already gotten the regeneration down pat by the time he did that experiment... wish I'd known about this before, wouldn't have bothered with the nanites."

"Look at the cost," Marie pointed out quietly. "Jake, if we can find Chien, he'll either be following Jaeger or looking for me."

"Nanites can heal anything, regeneration has to be genetically engineered into a creature," Razor reminded him. "How big is big?" he asked Marie.

"Mmm, about twelve feet long, a ton in weight. He's actually based on a bear," she answered. "Real sweetheart, and extremely protective of father and me."

"That'll be easy to track," T-Bone shook his head at such a beast as a pet.

"No kidding," Razor murmured. "We're on it. Something that big should be easy if it's not hiding _very_ carefully."

"Oh he won't be," Marie reassured them. "He's based on a mastiff in his normal form. Very, _very_ protective, and pretty straight-forward about how he does it. I'd been planning on introducing you guys in a couple weeks," she admitted as Razor shifted to the infrared scanners, looking for the massive form in question. "Probably be easiest to confirm that he's not by your place. First thing he'd do would be to either find Dad, or make sure I was safe, then find Dad."

"Right," T-Bone nodded and turned the jet towards their house, flying relatively slowly for the scanners and their eyes to try and find the missing pet.

It wasn't too hard to find him. They made it back to the house, and saw the massive, mostly-canine form pounding itself into the back door, trying to break in.

"Touch down, I'll talk to him," Marie told them as he looked up, hunkering down defensively as he saw the jet coming around.

T-Bone nodded and set the TurboKat down, the cockpit cover sliding back even before they had settled in.

"It's your show," Razor said a bit uneasily.

Marie climbed out, dropping down to the lawn. She could see what was left of the defenses that Chien had set off; a metallic, electrified net that had been torn through, the faint smell of gas in the air. The massive beast stood up and walked out to her, whining lowly, dark fur scorched in spots and a slight limp as she knelt and he rested his head on her shoulder.

"Shh, it's okay boy, I'm okay," she reassured him, stroking what part of his back she could reach, feeling the fracture along his spine that hadn't healed _quite_ right.

"He's hurt, but it's something Jaeger did to him," she called back. "Come on down... might as well introduce the two of you now."

"Is she kidding?" T-Bone asked Razor quietly. "That thing could bite our heads off _literally_ ."

"Yeah, but if it thinks we're friends, it probably won't," he pointed out and leapt to the ground to approach the pair calmly.

Chien looked up at Razor, and T-Bone as he came down, and growled lowly, but Marie stood up with a sharp click of her tongue, and he calmed down, sitting down next to her as she scratched his shoulder, still taller than she was.

"I'm guessing that Chien was one of Dad's test subjects during the Lycos project," she explained as the two kats approached and the massive animal leaned down to sniff at them, especially Jake. "Didn't know what project it was until now, anyways. He's not particularly bright, but he's loyal, and as long as you don't seem like a threat to Dad or me, pretty sweet."

"Hi there Chien," Razor offered his hand up to the massive beast, letting him sniff it before he cautiously rubbed his chest.

The big animal woofed lowly, the sound almost seeming to rumble up out of him.

"Down, boy," Marie told him, guiding him to lay down on the lawn. "Go down."

Chien whined, but rolled onto his side, barking and starting to twitch as his body shifted, shrinking down until, rather than being a monstrously large beast, he was simply a huge, heavily muscled dog. He got back up, whining long and low as he walked over to Marie.

"We have something inside he could eat?" She asked, starting to lead him towards the back door. "I want to get a better look at whatever happened to his back before going after Dad."

"Sure," Razor nodded and led the way inside. "Just have him follow my path closely so he doesn't step on any more security measures. I'll register him as a welcome guest inside. I assume he can eat raw meat?"

"Anything a regular dog can," Marie nodded, following Jake and leading Chien in. "It's basically all he is, really. Fish is about the only thing we don't give him, mostly because he doesn't like it."

"Pity, we have a lot of that," he chuckled and opened the back door before heading towards the kitchen to see what he could come up with for Marie's pet.

"Ham or bacon works pretty well," she suggested, sitting down in the front room with Chien's head in her lap, stroking his head. "Boneless pork chops, on the off-chance you have 'em."

"Leftovers," Jake called back as he selected several items from their fridge and brought them out. "Remember where you are, and how hopeless we are as cooks," he added with a grin and offered her part of the selection of meaty things. "Mind if we feed him a bit too, make friends?"

"Leftovers work too," she giggled. "And go ahead," she said, taking a piece of ham and giving it to Chien, letting Jake and Chance take care of it from there, though Chance looked a little more nervous about it yet.

"Don't worry, he won't take fingers along with the rest," she teased.

"He could take a hand and not notice," the tabby pointed out, though he kept on feeding the dog that weighed nearly as much as he did.

"He's not _that_ big," Marie chuckled as Chien licked some ham-juice off Chance's fingers when he had the chance. "Okay... you guys keep feeding him, I'm going to take a look and see if I can figure out what happened," she said, slipping to her knees next to him and gently inspecting his neck.

"So just how'd he survive a broken neck?" Jake asked quietly, fascinated by what he was dealing with, for all that it was unsetting too. "And just what did he get mixed with?"

"He has a regeneration factor that I don't think anybody but Dad really understands," Marie explained easily. "He's been hit by cars before and been walking around just fine a few days later... my guess is that it just wasn't good enough to handle the delicate nature of a spinal break," she explained. "The bone's a little bit off, but I imagine the nerves are really screwed up inside... might never really heal right," she sighed, kissing the massive dog's head gently.

"If it healed off, can it be re-broken and set, like a broken arm?" Jake asked.

"It _might_ , but I would _not_ want to be the one to do it," she said seriously. "Only people I'd trust to try would be Taggart and Dad... and then only if they're working together on it."

"There'll be time later, after we get him back," Jake nodded.

"As for what he got mixed with, I think it was mostly grizzly bear, a bit of Kodiak," Marie answered the rest of the question.

"Okay, first job is to reset the yard," Jake looked at Chance seriously.

"Time to get back to work," the tabby sighed and got up, stretching his powerful body upwards to work the kinks out.

"Do you have any ideas about how to find him?" Marie asked quietly as the guys headed outside.

"A few," Chance nodded. "We've done quite a few rescue hunts before. First thing is to keep you safe," he said more quietly, out of Jake's hearing. "Look, I know you want to help get your father back, but you are important enough to Jake to be used to blackmail us. Do you understand?"

"Yeah," she sighed. "Enough to blackmail Dad too," she admitted.

"So you need to stay somewhere secure. Here, with the sheriff or at Global. None are guaranteed, but it's as good as we've got. We haven't had the time to build a real hanger here."

"Here'd be best for now," she decided. "Good chance that Jaeger won't try coming back, after the first run-in with your security."

"You aren't going to hear a complaint from us," Chance nodded and joined his partner outside to work on repairing all the damage done by two nearly indestructible intruders in one hour.

* * *

Meanwhile, deep in the forest surrounding Eureka, Jaeger set Dr. Moreau down, moving a pile of brush out of the way to reveal a set of stairs leading into the earth.

"Down," he growled at the old scientist. "Light switch at the bottom."

Jean nodded faintly and did as he was told, moving carefully but quickly enough to not unduly anger his captor.

He wasn't sure if he should be surprised or not that the lights came on to reveal a reasonably well-kept laboratory environment at the bottom.

"I've been getting ready for a while," Jaeger explained, coming down in human form, completely naked as he went back to a pile of clothes and pulled out a shirt and pair of pants near his size. "Make yourself at home," he said with mock-politeness. "You'll be here for a while."

Jean found a somewhat comfortable chair and sat down, grateful to be off his feet and not being carried.

"What do you want with me?" He finally asked Jaeger what he'd been wondering ever since he'd learned that death wasn't it.

"Progeny, my dear Doctor," Jaeger chuckled, sitting down with a groan. "Not direct, of course, but at this point I belong to a species of five, and only one of them is female. Hardly enough to justify all that hard work you and the others went to," he said patronizingly.

Jean nodded, only part of him surprised at the statement. "By transformation of adult humans, wolves or pre-natal?"

"Humans, of course," Jaeger said easily. "I assume that the manipulation you did on us is already inheritable."

"Theoretically," he agreed warily. "The odds of a fertilized egg surviving the mother's hormones and transformations are extremely slim. I was not asked to design a creature that could reproduce easily."

"True, but then we don't die easily either," Jaeger shrugged. "It will be possible. There simply need to be more of us. Of course, there is one little problem with that, isn't there?"

"Volunteers, to start with," Jean met his gaze squarely.

Jaeger snorted disdainfully. " _I_ am not worried about that. People fear what they don't understand; of course they're not going to volunteer. They don't have any clue what they're missing. The power involved. It's quite a gift you gave us, Doctor. I intend to see it spread."

"Then you have a significant problem," Jean pointed out.

"No, _you_ have a significant problem," Jaeger corrected him. "One that means either improving the serum so that a single injection will suffice, or adjusting the retrovirus vector so that it is ingestible. I've done my homework," he smirked at the surprised expression Dr. Moreau was wearing. "Of course, there is one other option... one I rather like, honestly. The only thing you missed about werewolves is that we're supposed to be able to spread the condition. I would think that it wouldn't be too hard to develop the retrovirues so that it could be spread by a bite or a scratch."

"You imagine wrong," Jean shook his head in disbelief. "It would be easier to allow you to breed a werewolf with a human than spread it by a bite, and the first is still impossible. Yes, I can create the serum you want, but it will take time and the contents of my lab books to even try for it in under a decade. The Lycos Project was over two decades in development and built upon even more related projects."

"Then go for the initial injection or ingested version," Jaeger shrugged. "I don't care how it's done, simply that it is. I'll have the books for you in a matter of hours."

"May I explore the facility?" Jean asked evenly.

"As long as you don't try anything stupid," Jaeger agreed. "I think you'll find I've got a surprising number of the supplies you'll need. I've been working on this for a while. And I already know that this is the only exit that hasn't been blocked by more than you'll ever be able to move," he added.

"I would be quite surprised to find otherwise," Jean told him dryly and stood to make a leisurely inspection of his prison.

* * *

"You're going to be okay, right honey?" Carter asked Zoe much later that night, not having gotten back until nearly midnight with Jo and Taggart.

"Yeah Dad," Zoe nodded slightly. She'd waited up for them, even though she'd had dinner earlier. She just hadn't been willing to go to bed without making sure that her father had gotten home safe first.

Especially not after what she'd seen earlier.

"Okay," he smiled slightly. "Go on to bed, I'll still be here in the morning." Zoe turned and headed into her room, and Carter sighed as he went back to the table where Jo and Taggart were sitting.

"So, do we have an official body count yet?" He asked quietly.

"Twenty-eight," Jo told him grimly. "Three adults and twenty-five minors. Three more are still in critical condition but expected to survive."

"We have a list?" Carter asked quietly, taking the clipboard from her and looking it over. "No rhyme or reason... definitely just going for chaos."

"Body count would've been worse if he hadn't been," Jo pointed out.

"That _doesn't_ make me feel any better about this," he pointed out darkly. "Did a damned good job of it too... we've been busy in town since noon."

"Tomorrow isn't likely to be any better," she told him. "The more chaos he can create without bringing in the Army, the longer he has to force Dr. Moreau to do what he wants."

"How does he even expect to get _anything_ out of him? Won't he need the supplies and facilities at Global to even get started?"

"He's had years to plan this," Jo said. "He's probably been gathering supplies and a facility for as long as we've been lose."

"You really think he's trying to get more of whatever it would take to create werewolves?" Taggart asked. "Given the mortality rate that was involved, it seems... quite a stretch. Not so much that he'd want to, but that he'd think it was possible. Even if he _did_ manage it, he couldn't hope to control them."

"He's never stopped planning this," Jo said firmly. "Even before we had been fully transformed he intended to have this 'gift' spread. As for control ... you underestimate his belief in his own superiority and the effect of the wolf's nature on those transformed. He started with a group already loyal to him, and it's the only base he has.

"And yes, he is definitely that delusional."

"Wonderful," Carter muttered. "So... what does this have to do with you, beyond the obvious?" He asked Jo. "The 'gifts' he left you... at least I'm assuming he's the one who left them ... that says there's more there than just not liking the breakup, at least to me."

"I'm the only female," she shrugged. "If I refuse him as the alpha male and choose another, it can go a long way towards unseating him from his role as leader. Beyond that, his ego definitely can't take it."

"That's a wolf pack dynamic, not human," Taggart object.

"We aren't human anymore," she told him bluntly. "It's taken everything to stay as human as I seem to be, but it doesn't work _that_ well sometimes. What you do by default takes effort for me now. She'd be in charge if I didn't keep her locked up as much as I can. He embraced the beast instead. He's far more wolf than man now."

"Well, mass murder's a more human trait than a wolf one, so he's balancing it out one way," Carter said grimly. "Okay. So he's got Dr. Moreau. He's probably got a facility and at least some of the supplies he'll need to make more of the... whatever it was that did this to him. The question is, what's he going to go after next, and if there's anything _more_ about him that'll help us figure that out."

"He'll probably go after Dr. Moreau's research and some supplies," Jo said. "He's smart and does his homework, but he's not good enough to understand everything the doctor will need for this project, or to know when Dr. Moreau is fudging about what he needs to make the project look harder than it is. After years, there is no way he'll balk at being asked to retrieve project files and related material because Dr. Moreau doesn't know it by heart."

"And if he's as smart as he seems to be, he'll keep stalling," Carter nodded slightly. "Of course, this means we will have to try and find a way to find out where he is, before we do anything that'll kill him."

"Agreed, but he won't stall too much or he'll put his daughter in danger, and I'm sure that Dr. Moreau would not do that," Jo said. "In the long run, we should be able to trace the unknown power draws to the right secret lab, but it won't be quick."

"How many secret labs are there around here?" Carter asked, then paused for a moment as Taggart and Jo both looked at him. "Right. Eureka."

"Right," Jo nodded. "What we need right now is to get some rest and let the computers start to give us a list of likely hideouts."

"Getting a better understanding of what those two kats and their gear can do is another thing to do," Taggart added. "In the morning."

"With you there," Carter agreed, standing up and stretching out. "Let's hope this doesn't last too much longer, or everybody around here who can fight'll be dead on his feet."

"Don't put it past him as a likely tactic," Jo told him before turned to go to the guest bedroom she shared with Taggart. "We've used it before to good effect."

"At this rate I'm going to invoke my wife's old 'optimist rule,' Carter grumbled as Taggart stood and looked at him curiously. "Whenever I got pessimistic about a case, she'd make me point out at least two bright spots or leads for every time I pointed out one of the problems."

"We'd run out mighty fast," Taggart chuckled grimly before he went to follow Jo to bed.

"Yeah... we probably would," Carter admitted, heading to his own room.

* * *

Jaeger sniffed at the chasm surrounding Global Dynamics disdainfully. He couldn't believe that it actually worked as well as it did. Of course, he knew it was there... and he could smell that there was ground on the other side of the hologram.

He stepped through, a fair distance from the actual main entrance. He'd been sneaking around here long enough to smell the other dog who frequented the area... and to track down his entrance into the facility.

He kept following his nose, looking for the exact spot again. He knew he could get in without setting off the alarm ... getting back out with the notes, that would be the hard part. At least he knew where they were and where the lab was, and it wasn't in the highly secured sections.

He really didn't care to challenge Section 5 security if he didn't have to.

The underworld of the Global Dynamic's facility was a huge system of tunnels that few traveled and had little security.

There were days when Jaeger wondered how they could feel as secure as they did.

Probably told themselves that nobody could possibly find their way through. Arrogant fools.

He took the time to shift, shedding his lupine form and growing to his full stature, sure he would need to use its strength at some point. If he didn't, he'd be happily surprised, but for now....

He found the entrance he would need, and wrenched the maintenance access door open, sure he was just a few doors down from where he needed to be.

'Biotech, Dr. Jean Moreau' he grinned at the sign. Perfect. And not a guard or alarm in sight or hearing.

He sniffed the door to confirm that the plaques hadn't been change, then pried the doors open, heading in and heading over to Jean's office. He ripped the knob off before he went in and started flipping through his file cabinets quickly. He pulled out everything that seemed related, with a special eye out for the 'Lycos' labels here and there.

With a sizeable pile he regarded the room for something to carry them out in.

He eventually decided on one of the Doctor's old lab coats, turning it into a makeshift bindle quickly and looking to see if he could see anything else there.

The doctor's laboratory laptop nearly leapt out at him as something to grab and he quickly added it to the middle of the bundle before he turned to leave.

He froze on pure instinct at a small sound outside that didn't feel right.

He turned, sure that somebody was waiting for him just outside the door. A moment to sniff the air told him what direction they were in... and he was sure that they had heavy equipment with them. They'd be damned fools not to.

He grabbed a heavy rack of equipment and slid it out the door, pushing it towards the security forces with all his strength before he moved to follow it, staying low and hoping to reach the door before they caught him. A searing pain along his back shattered that idea. It was a killing shot on anything else. To Jaeger it was merely a painful inconvenience for a few minutes.

Unfortunately, it was a few minutes he couldn't spare. He turned, shattering a fire extinguisher's casing and grabbing the metal canister, hurling it at the guard who'd shot him. It hit the forcefield - but the next shot burst it, metal shrapnel and white chemical foam spraying through the hall as he opened the maintenance door and dove into the tunnels.

It was a tight fit for his crinos form, one that left broken pipes and torn barricades in his wake.

The sirens went off above, followed by the clanging of many heavy doors as the facility went into lockdown.

He took the bundle of notes and the computer into his mouth, getting down on all fours and loping for the exit at full speed, quickly leaving security behind. They'd be outside, of course, but he might be able to get out of their perimeter before they found him.

* * *

"Where _is_ he?" Allison Blade demanded when the large red blip disappeared from the screen despite the continued presence of the multitude of security officer dots.

"Into the access tunnels, most likely," Start told her.

"I thought those had monitoring now, after that nanite incident?" she raised a challenging eyebrow at him.

"Sensors are being put in, Allison," Stark showed more restraint with her than with most, even now. "However, there are dozens of miles of access ways that require them and they have not all been equipped yet."

"Great, so how are we supposed to help them find him, hmm?"

"There is one thing," Stark murmured, tapping away on his keyboard, a small green dot showing up. "There... we weren't tracking laptops while he was here, probably didn't realize that it had a GPS in it. That'll help them at least," he said, patching the signal through to the HUD's of the officers tracking him.

"Might want to patch that through to the Carter, Jo and Taggart," Allison said. "If he gets outside, it's going to be up to them most likely."

"Working on it," he said grimly. "Damn it, how did he figure out our security shifts?" He asked rhetorically, sending another signal out for more of the security officers to get out of bed and suit up.

"Probably the same way I did," Allison said dryly. "By watching and listening."

"You, at least, were _supposed_ to be somewhere you could watch and listen," Stark muttered. "Taggart's on the move," he said, indicating a brown dot far away from the compound that was moving towards it. "Maybe he'll have more luck...."

Taggart, meanwhile, was hoping that they'd be getting luckier before he got there. An hour of sleep was _not_ a good condition to be tracking in, even if he did have something else to help him find his quarry.

It also wasn't a good shape to be fighting in, as he was sure he'd have to if he caught up with Jaeger.

Jo and Carter were in no better shape, and they were ahead of him, hoping to catch Jaeger before he got past the first perimeter.

Of course, they also had somewhat higher-grade gear on them. He had his own, but the plasma cannons were beyond his grade.

"Where are you going?" He asked himself quietly, trying to guess where Jaeger would be headed so that he could be there ahead of time. With a little luck, he could even track him to where he had Dr. Moreau waiting. That would also mean he wouldn't have to fight the werewolf, at least not without backup.

Jaeger's blip stilled, and Taggart realized that it probably meant he was coming up from the tunnels. He turned hard, wheeling around to a stop near the entrance he was sure Jaeger was coming up, and pulled out his rifle.

"Explosive rounds ought to give you something you can't just bounce back from," he muttered, taking careful aim.

He watched in the dark moonlight as the grate lifted far too easily for a human to be doing it. The first thing that appeared was a gigantic hand with a bundle in it, then a nose that sniffed carefully.

Taggart prayed that the wind wouldn't shift, waiting for Jaeger's head to come out the rest of the way, his body stone-still except for his trigger finger, tensing the trigger to _just_ before it would fire.

The nose twitched again, and withdrew.

A stilled heartbeat later, and there was a blur of motion forward as Jaeger burst out at full speed.

Taggart squeezed the trigger, guiding the recoil to try and track the massive, fast-moving form with his assault rifle, gunfire ripping through the still night air.

He saw one shatter in flesh, sending blood and meat spraying, but it barely slowed the beast down. The second, further up the body drew an angry sound but little more before Jaeger was out of sight in the thick trees.

"Damn it," Taggart muttered, swinging around in his truck to start it and bring up the tracking information again, taking off and trying to figure out another good spot to cut him off.

Fifteen minutes and the terrain were to his advantage, and he got another chance to set up an ambush of sorts as Jaeger ran through the forest at high speed. This time with his target moving in a relatively strait line and momentum, he pulled the trigger to a spray of blood from Jaeger's head.

He swore to himself as Jaeger kept going; he'd led his target too far by a matter of inches. Anything normal would have dropped right there, but Jaeger knew that he would recover, and didn't care about the pain enough to stop. All things considered, Taggart figured he was pretty lucky that Jaeger was just trying to get away. A part of him wanted to wait, let him get back to his lair and take him there... but he knew that doing that would turn Dr. Moreau into a hostage.

He hit the gas, taking off again, watching for any opportunity to get a shot at Jaeger's legs or a hip, disable him for a moment.

"Think you'll loose me that way, do you?" Taggart muttered to himself as he watched a half-random zig-zag, looping pattern begin to appear from the GPS readings.

He followed the basic thrust of Jaeger's movements, grateful beyond words that he didn't know about the tracker. Following him out into the deepest parts of the forest, he pulled up just outside of a small underground bunker, the GPS telling him that Jaeger was likely there.

Taking his rifle, he looked around carefully, alert for any sign of a trap before he headed down, his night-vision goggles the only way to see as he made his way to the heavy door that sealed the bunker off from the rest of the world.

He tested the handle; finding it open, he held his gun at the ready as he slid it open. When no attack greeted him, he slipped in carefully, looking around.

He saw the laptop on the ground, abandoned and realized, in nearly the same moment, that he _had_ just walked into a trap.

He raced for the door as the hardened bunker around him rumbled and began to crumble around him. He nearly collided with the door, now shut and barricaded from the outside as he recognized several explosions from nearby. Even as he recovered his feet he scanned the shaking scene for a place to have a little protection from the bunker coming down around him and prayed that Jo and the sheriff weren't far behind him.

A study looking table was the only cover offered and he dove under it as the ceiling began to collapse.

Across the forest, Carter's head snapped up from his laptop to his windshield as he heard distant explosions.

"We know what that is, Jo, over?" He asked, picking up his radio and contacting her.

"Focused, high powered explosives, underground." She told him, then paused briefly, the sound over her vehicle moving in the background. "Likely right where the tracker is, over."

"You think he managed to blow himself up?" Carter asked incredulously, turning to head that direction. "Over," he added, grunting as he started off the road. No way they'd be able to get the two SUV's through the forest like this.

"Very unlikely, sir," Jo told him dryly. "It's more likely a booby-trap and Taggart tripped it, over."

"You're _way_ too calm about that possibility," he muttered quietly, not bothering to finish with an 'over' as he sat the radio back down and focused on getting as close to the tracker as he could before getting out on foot. He was sure Jo would be there well before him, and likely in that monster form as she tried to dig Taggart out.

He pulled his phone out and called Henry's, waiting agitatedly for him to pick up.

"What is it, Sheriff Carter?" Henry asked groggily, though Carter was sure he was waking up quickly.

"We had an explosion while tracking something nasty out here. We'll need something to dig Taggart out of whatever small mountain he just got buried under," Carter explained briefly. "And whatever you bring to do it, make sure the vehicle's armored. Just in case."

"I'll be right there," Henry told him. "Where will you need me?"

"Find Taggart's truck if you can, he's probably got it in the area," Carter told him after a moment's thought. "If not, I'll give you the right directions once I know for sure."

"Right. Are the kats out there yet?" Henry asked. "Between the jet and that drilling machine they're well equipped to help."

"Don't know," Carter admitted. "Stark should've called 'em...." He grabbed his cell phone, dialing their number after hanging up with Henry. Worst case, they were already on the way.

Several agonizingly long rings greeted him until a deep male voice answered.

"Jake and Chance's ... house," he said, stumbling a bit after their names. "What's up?"

"Werewolf on the run, and we think Taggart's trapped somewhere," Carter explained briefly. "We need you guys and your digging machine... Stark didn't call you when it hit GD?"

"No," Chance sounded decidedly miffed. "We'll be right ... where?"

"Can you guys track a wireless signal if you've got the frequency?" Carter asked, just as miffed.

"Sure," he said easily, the sounds of people being woken up after _far_ too little sleep in the near background. "What frequency, and about what range?"

"Few miles out of town, and frequency 169.09," Carter told them. "Should be picking up something that's way outside of town and a dozen or so other signals closer in."

"Understood," he could hear Chance nod and the lower voices, one male and one female; Jake and Marie most likely. "We're after the one that's out of place. No problem," Chance hung up.

A few minutes later, he saw the lights from Jo's car marking the site. He flipped his own on and climbed out, starting out on foot to where he heard twisted wreckage groaning, gun in hand as he watched for Jaeger.

"The Kats are their way, bringing the tunneller," he shouted to Jo as he approached. As he expected she was in full wolf-man form and making significant headway down.

"Good," she growled back, most of her efforts focused on making the shortest distance to Taggart that she could. "I can smell, hear him. He's alive."

"Any way I can help?"

"Watch for Jaeger," Jo answered briefly, her massive, furry form straining to move the heavy debris; steel lined with lead and cement along with the earth and rocks that weighed more than anyone but her form.

"Right," he put on his night vision goggles and found a perch to watch the area as best he could. It wasn't an easy wait, knowing he couldn't do anything to help.

A few minutes later, he heard the TurboKat overhead.

"Jo, clear room so they can get the vehicle down," he called to her, shaking his head slightly as she moved the debris aside and the jet dropped down, spinning blades beneath it carving parts of the forest out of the way until they could touch down and deploy the digging vehicle.

"Still need the TurboMole, or will a good crane do the trick?" Razor asked, leaning up out of the open four-seat cockpit of the tracked behemoth.

"Crane should work," Jo looked at him and saw someone completely unphased by her appearance for the first time. She felt the longing she had viciously buried long ago roar to the front of her mind and stay there despite her best efforts. That damn she-wolf was so much trouble; she wanted to belong too much bear sometimes.

"Right," Razor nodded and got the TurboMole converted even as T-Bone began to haul things out of the way with the TurboKat's winch and nets.

Before long, the two vehicles had moved most of the debris out of the way, and started clearing out the room as Jo started digging again. She followed her nose down, tracing his scent as she dug and it grew stronger.

"Here!" His voice, muffled by earth, called out to them, inciting her to dig much harder.

She hurled a last chunk of concrete out, and Taggart crawled out, looking surprisingly composed for what had just happened. "I am _so_ glad that Jaeger wasn't interested in digging me out," he sighed, hugging one of Jo's arms and only just managed not to be crushed by her embrace.

"Okay ... did we learn anything other than that this guy's a sneaky bastard?" T-Bone asked.

"He _can_ break into Global, and Stark doesn't know enough to have you guys on speed dial like he's got my place yet," Carter muttered.

"He's also... mmf... probably got Moreau's notes on the serum," Taggart added with a grunt.

"So he has the doctor, his notes, and given this, I'd say a lab somewhere," Razor considered the situation. "How local is he likely to be staying?"

"Can't have gotten too far from here," Carter said. "The explosion was maybe a half-hour ago."

"He'll stay around here," Taggart agreed, rubbing Jo's arm as she let him go a bit. "Everything he needs is here; he won't want to travel _too_ far. Besides, he wouldn't want everybody _in_ town if we hadn't been getting close."

"Right," Razor nodded.

"Well, I guess we're out to do another patrol, see if we can pick him up on the scanners," T-Bone sighed, then yawned widely as Henry drove up from the far side of where the others had come in by.

"I think I missed all the excitement," Henry commented.

"For now," Taggart agreed.

"As for searching, not tonight," Carter said firmly. "We've all been running on too little sleep too long. This is something else he wants; like this, when we _do_ catch him, we're going to be sloppy. We've got to be at the top of our game to handle him."

"But ...." Razor began to object, only be to silenced by a low growl from Jo.

"No one is in danger at the moment," Carter reminded him. "If we keep going without sleep, everyone will be."

"C'mon," T-Bone said, reaching up to squeeze his shoulder. "He's got a point; you might be able to run on four hours of sleep, but the rest of us are only mortal," he teased lightly.

"Right," Razor sighed and carefully backed the TurboMole into the TurboKat while Henry watched in utter fascination, getting as close as he dared without getting squished.

"So pick up in the daylight?" T-Bone asked.

"Right," Carter nodded. "We'll start around here, assuming nothing else comes up tonight. I don't want to see you guys for at least another six hours," he said seriously.

"No problem," T-Bone nodded, grateful for the lengthy respite as he jumped into the TurboKat's cockpit and waited for Razor to join him before taking off and heading home, his mind on the reality of how dangerous this hunt had become. Taggart had nearly been killed, and he was the best ground hunter they had.

"Yeah, it's getting bad," Razor agreed with him.

"You do that too well," T-Bone complained, though there was no real offense in his voice. "Marie'll probably be worried sick when we get back again."

"At least waiting up for us, again," he nodded and absently watched his sensor screens for something out of place as they flew the short distance home.

"Yeah... so, I'll take the first watch?" T-Bone offered. "Y'know, we could probably even afford to just ditch the whole watch thing for a while. He won't be going after Marie just after this."

"No, but I'd like a little time with just her for a while," Razor said quietly.

"No prob-" T-Bone paused, realizing what Razor's tone meant, beyond his words. "It's not _that_ bad, buddy. We've been in worst spots than this one before."

"Just not with someone back home that's a target," he pointed out. "It's not like Felina; she could take care of herself. Marie doesn't know how to fight or how to run or hide."

"Maybe _she_ doesn't, but that dog of hers does, and they've got the security system. Besides, that's _more_ reason not to get ourselves killed out there. This isn't gonna be the last chance you get with her, Jake."

"I hope not," he nodded. "Just not all that sure. This isn't even the world we're supposed to be on. We'll probably be taken back together cause we'll be together ... that it'd be at home, or intentional ... that I'm not so sure of."

"We all know," T-Bone nodded slightly, bringing the TurboKat around for a landing. "Just be sure you remember she isn't Op's the way Felina was... might be a little surprised if you want to do more than snuggle."

"I'll keep it in mind," Razor nodded slightly, his tone a testament to the fact that it hadn't occurred to him.

"Don't worry about it _too_ much," T-Bone chuckled, turning back to give him a light nuzzle after they'd landed. "Go on in, I'll make sure she's fueled up."

"Thanks," Razor gave him a lingering kiss before heading for the house. His helmet and mask were off before he stepped inside, Marie greeting him with a kiss right inside the door.

"Was it bad, whatever it was?" She asked him softly, stepping back a bit to let him in. The motion made her silky nightgown flutter a bit.

"No, but it could have been," he said as they walked towards the bedroom while he stripped off his flight suit. "Taggart was buried inside an abandoned bunker rigged with explosives. He got out okay, but it was close."

"At least he's safe... and you are too," she murmured. "No closer to catching this guy then."

"No," he sighed and drew her down onto the bed, honestly just wanting to be close to her right now.

"They'll get him," she murmured, wrapping her arms around him as her nightgown pressed into his fur and they lay down with the blankets pulled up. "Chance'll be in soon?"

"For the rest of his watch," he nodded and kissed her, his hands gentle as he ran them down her side. "We've got a couple hours to ourselves yet."

"M'kay," she smiled, snuggling close, kissing him back. She began to purr softly as he nuzzled close and slowly began to relax from the sudden call out and excitement.

Gradually he began to kiss his way down her jaw to her throat as his hands slid under her nightgown to caress the downy fur on her hips.

"Mmm ... wound up?" She asked, purring lightly as she scratched her way down his back. Despite his lack of apparent arousal, this was how he tended to start, largely because it worked well on her.

"More ... uneasy," he admitted with a soft lick to the hinge of her jaw. "That we'll all be here when it's over."

Her breath caught for a moment, her thoughts turned towards something she was increasingly uncomfortable with.

"We will be," she said softly even as his fingers slid over the spot above where her tail would grow in. "Wouldn't be that cruel."

"Maybe," Jake murmured and continued to kiss down her neck. "Still want a good last memory if it is."

"Anything you want," she murmured, closing her eyes and reaching down to rub above his own tail, focusing on the pleasure his own touch was giving her more than the faint pain she was starting to feel there instead.

"Slow, gentle," he murmured, his kiss as much a nuzzle as he caressed her sides to slide her nightgown up and off.

"I love you," she whispered, kissing the top of his head as she shifted to let him take her nightgown off, reaching around to caress his thighs, reaching between them to stroke his sheath gently. It was soft and loose, the arousal needed for what he was suggesting not yet physical.

The light caress still made him moan as he came up to kiss her on the mouth again while one hand caressed her ass while his other hand cupped her breast. His breath quickened slightly, his desire a slow smoldering rather that the white-hot flames that she usually enflamed.

She kissed him back, pressing into his touch as she turned her hand, slipping a slender finger down into his sheath, enjoying the unusual feeling of the slick, hot skin that she hadn't had the chance to feel before. Even more exciting was the shuddering mew the touch drew from him.

She smiled and kissed his chin, then his neck, shifting down a bit to lick at his furless nipples while her fingers caressed the inside of his sheath until his filling cock forced her to abandon the exotic exploration. She moaned herself when his fingers slid down her abdomen to cup her sex.

"I love you," he trembled slightly. "Don't want to lose you."

"I don't want to lose you either," she murmured. "This _won't_ be the last time," she whispered, trying to feel certain of that, as though saying it would make it so.

"Shu," Jake whispered as his cock filled in her hand and his fingers were wetted by her growing arousal. Their bodies pressed close together as they lay on their sides and tenderly pleasured each other. He shifted his hand to guide her upper leg to lie across his hip and slowly pressed into her slick body. "It is what it is."

She moaned softly, hooking her leg around his, pressing close to him needily, wanting to feel him against her, inside her, as much as she possibly could. She wasn't sure if it was his concern that it might be their last chance, or her own, but she felt a soul-deep _need_ to memorize him, everything about him that she could.

* * *

Jo woke to the sharp, lancing pain of an unintentional transformation kicking in and quietly scrambled from the bed to the floor. In the back of her mind she didn't want to wake Jim, but within moment's S.A.R.A.H.'s concerned voice became audible, even if her mind wasn't in any condition to understand the words being said.

"S.A.R.A.H., lock the doors," she was vaguely aware of Jim's voice saying that... or something like that. "Exit, Carter's room, and Zoe's."

At least he didn't try to do anything to help her. Head was in roughly the right place.

Soon the pain subsided to leave her panting on the floor and slightly confused that her mind was fully aware. She sat up and looked around, focusing on Jim when she saw him standing on the far side of the bed, waiting on her reaction.

"Jim? Did anything happen?"

"Just you falling off the bed and changing," he said, shaking his head. "Not time for that, is it?"

"No ... mind's still intact," she scanned the area with the form's heightened senses. "I can't find anything," she added before drawing a deep, relaxing breath and trying to shift back to human.

"Should I unlock the doors?" S.A.R.A.H. asked them both.

"Internal, yeah," Taggart nodded, his expression concerned when Jo looked confused.

"I can't shift," Jo told him.

"You can't... that doesn't make any sense," he murmured. "Could it just be your body's too tired to make the change back?"

"The only thing that's locked me in crinos before was being too injured to survive in another form," she shook her massive head. "I should be unconscious if I'm too exhausted to shift."

"It was worth a shot," Taggart murmured. "There's nothing I can really do here, most of my medical equipment's back at the lab that I could use to see what's going on... if you think it can wait until sunup, we could try and figure it out there."

"Do I have a choice?" she asked dryly. "It's not like I'm out of control. Though we might want to head out before Zoe gets up. I don't think she needs to see this walking threw her home first thing in the morning."

"No, that would be a bad thing," Taggart agreed. "Especially after what happened earlier. For now... think you'll fit back in the bed?"

"Only if you're willing to have a monster curled around you," she pointed out, privately quite willing to just sleep on the floor.

"Given it's the 'monster' who tried to dig me out from under a few tons of rubble with her bare hands, think I can handle it," he pointed out wryly, laying down and making as much room for her as he could. As she worked her way to get at least most of herself onto the bed, he curled up on his side, nearly in a fetal position, and tried to relax as his large frame was soon encircled by furry muscle. He knew it was Jo, but he had to admit it was going to take a bit to get used to having her so much bigger than he was.

* * *

Marie stirred slightly as Jake stepped into the bedroom, hours later, after his own watch was finished. She looked over at him with a soft smile, putting her finger to her lips as Chance snored softly.

She slipped out of bed and walked over, giving him a light kiss that was returned with a hug.

"I think he could use a little time with you, before you guys have to go out again," she pointed out quietly. "Chien can handle watch for a little while. He's not nearly as likely to attack in daylight now."

"True," Jake murmured with a slight smile and kissed her before he unbuttoned his shirt and walked over to the bed.

"Do you mind if I watch?" She asked him, carefully sitting on a small table nearby.

He hesitated for a second, then shook his head before unbuckling his belt and stripping down the rest of the way.

She decided to take it as she was welcome to watch this morning, and leaned back against the wall as Jake crawled into bed with Chance, the tabby stirring slightly at the shift in the bed.

"Time to wake up," Jake purred softly before kissing him.

"Has it been six hours yet?" Chance murmured, kissing Jake back as his brain started to kick back into gear slowly.

"And a bit," Jake chuckled and ran a hand down Chance's broad chest. "We have a bit before we'll get a call though," he added and slid down to lay next to his mate, both of them wearing only their collars.

Chance purred lightly, getting the idea and wrapping his arms around Jake, reaching up to finger his collar.

"'Splains why you're the only other one in the bed," he murmured, kissing his mate tenderly.

"She thought you might like a little of what she got earlier," Jake ran his hand down to just above his mate's sheath.

"Can't say she was wrong," Chance purred, caressing Jake's body, feeling his lean muscle beneath his hands as his sheath began to fill out.

"Good," Jake murmured with a kiss, his fingers sliding further down to gently fondle Chance's sheath and balls.

The tabby moaned softly, scratching Jake's ears and the back of his head "Mmm ... you _do_ know the best wakeup calls," he purred.

Jake chuckled and lowered his head to encourage his mate's arousal with his mouth until Chance was hard and ready, then kissed his way back up his broad chest for a lingering kiss as he shifted to straddle the tabby's hips. They both moaned as his balls rubbed along the textured length they both wanted inside him.

Chance took his hips, pressing his shaft up against Jake's tight, hot pucker.

"Slow, or fast?" He asked, breathing shallowly, smelling both their arousal... and the added scent of Marie's.

"Slow," Jake murmured and shifted his weight back to make a shameless display of his body for his mate as he was gradually opened up by the thick shaft that pressed up into him.

"Oooh... damn, kat," Chance groaned, his barbs slipping into Jake row by row as he leaned up to lick at and nuzzle his mate's chest.

"We haven't done this enough lately," Jake shuddered as they began to move slowly.

From where Marie sat, she watched the pair avoid every touch that would hurry them along. While Chance had his hands all over his mate's body, he stayed away from Jake's cock and balls, and Jake kept his ass relaxed.

"Have to work on that," Chance purred, pulling Jake down to kiss him deeply and swallowing the smaller kat's groan as his cock was caught between their bodies and rubbed between silky soft fur covering hard muscle.

"Yes," Jake shuddered as the embrace and kiss became mutual with the growing pleasure in both their groins. Almost reluctantly he pushed himself upright again, reducing the contact that was driving their pleasure too quickly.

"Nnngh ... sorry," Chance grinned sheepishly, running his hands down to scratch Jake's stomach lightly as they let the pleasure gradually built until Jake trembled, so close to the edge he was only just holding himself back.

"Come for me," Chance groaned, on the edge himself as Jake started to bear down, tightening his body around his shaft.

Jake drew in a breath and let his body go with a deep groan, his seed arching to splash Chance's chest. His body tightened around Chance, pushing the tabby over the edge. He roared, pumping his own hot seed deep into Jake's ass as their pleasure peaked and slowly came down.

"Mmm, I do love that," Jake panted as their orgasms wound down.

"Mhm," Chance murmured, pulling him close for a kiss, his ears twitching. "Think Marie's planning for breakfast," he chuckled. "Snuggle a bit first?"

"Sure," he let a breath out and lay down on top of his mate. "A few minutes can't hurt."

"I think that's all we'll have," Chance chuckled with a sniff in the air. It smelled of cinnamon, ham and eggs.

"We got lucky, this one can cook," Jake snickered and happily relaxed for the few minutes they had.

"You're going to want to grab a shower soon," Marie called at them from the kitchen. "Assuming you want to be dressed when you eat."

"If we're not, will you match?" Chance called back with a playful tone and got thwacked with a pillow by his mate.

"We have _work_ to do today, Mr. Always Horny."

"Not a chance. There's hot grease involved," Marie shot back.

"Mmm, we've actually done that before," Chance pointed out with a sly grin. "Just gotta watch for wax, that'll do nasty things with fur."

"I don't think she wanted to know that," Jake snickered at the groan that came from the kitchen and reluctantly pulled himself off his mate's still-hard cock. "I'll grab a shower while you finish deciding to get up."

Chance chuckled and rolled to his back, relaxing a bit longer while he had the opportunity, and listened as Jake's shower began. Even rushed, that kat loved his showers long and hot. A few minutes passed, and he heard the sounds of cooking stop. A sly grin crossed his face; he had a pretty good idea what was up next.

Meanwhile, the door to the bathroom opened, and Marie slipped in, pulling her nightgown off and setting it to the side.

"Wash your back?" She offered as she slipped into the shower behind him.

"Umm, ur, sure," he stammered, his arousal hard and clear as he half turned towards her.

She moved up behind him, wrapping her arms around him, letting him take most of the heat from the water. The heat of his body, the arousal clinging to him and excited by the water, was more than enough for her.

"I want to share this with you at least once," she murmured, kissing his neck and reaching down to fondle his shaft. "However you want," she whispered, then moaned and shivered and the nipping kiss he gave her neck. His hands ran down her sides, more possessive and exciting than earlier with his full erection against her belly.

She lifted her leg, wrapping it around his thigh as he slid the fingers of one hand between her legs to caress her already inflamed sex.

"Take me," she moaned softly, tilting her head back and exposing her throat to him.

"So impatient," he murmured affectionately even as he spread her lower lips with his fingers and teased her clit while he kissed her throat. 

Marie whimpered and trembled, trying hard not to squirm as a sharp claw teased the hard nub, only to be replaced by the sides of his fingers squeezing down on it as he rubbed her entire sex.

"So very hot," he added as his fingers slipped away to be replaced by the uneven hard heat of his cock as he shifted to press into her body with a low moan.

"Oooh... when you're like this... mmm... don't you _dare_ tell me you don't like that," she grinned, squeezing down around his throbbing, barbed shaft with a body that was desperate for the attention.

"I won't," he rumbled and began to thrust against her hard, the silken fur above his groin rubbing against her clit as he pressed against her. His hands moved down her body, one helping support the leg that was lifted, the other on her hip to hold her still.

"Oh Jake," she moaned, reaching up and drawing him close, kissing him hungrily as she rubbed against him, trying not to fall in the shower, trying to help him burn off the stress of the past day, and if she was honest with herself, it was to help her do that too. It was intense to have a lover so keyed up and taking it out on her.

Already keyed up from watching them, Marie was the first to come. Her body clenched down around the rubbery barbs of Jake's shaft, her knee going weak as she fell back against the wall to support herself, crying out in pleasure as she lost control of herself.

In wasn't even a heartbeat later that Jake groaned deeply, nearly a growl, and closed his jaws around the crook of her neck as he began to thrust hard and fast, right on the edge of coming already and eager to come with her.

She moaned as he came, pumping hot, thick seed into her, tiny drops of blood forming where his teeth were pressing into her skin. It was a tiny pain surrounded by intense pleasure and it very suddenly made it much easier for her to understand where a fascination for sexual pain could come from.

He unlocked his jaw and began to lick the blood from her shoulder, his body pressed against hers, inside hers, as they both used the wall to remain upright.

"So very, very hot," Jake murmured with a shudder as he continued to clean her shoulder, though the blood was long gone.

The scientist in the back of her mind wondered if kat saliva and licking had the same effects on wound healing as a cat's did.

"Tell me about it," she murmured, smiling and pressing her face to his shoulder. "Mmm ... the things you do to me...."

"Because you ask me to," he chuckled softly and slowly slid to his knees, kissing his way down her body as he went until he was nuzzling her sex, dripping with both their fluids and the shower's water.

"Do I have to turn the cold water on in there, or are you two going to make room for me so we can eat and get going?" Chance asked, poking his head into the shower without any sign of shame or hesitation.

"Five minutes," Jake grumbled good-naturedly at him and went to work on licking Marie's sex clean, his hands on her hips for when she lost balance again.

"Five minutes Jake-shower-time, or five minutes real time?" Chance asked easily.

"I don't fucking care!" Marie growled at him, both her hands on Jake's head and her legs spread wide for him as her body began to tremble again.

"Can I at lea-" Chance caught a shampoo bottle in the face, and backed out, rubbing his nose with a shameless grin as Jake worked Marie to another orgasm. It wasn't often he could catch even part of a show like that; not when it was so very much Jake's idea.

He headed to the guest bathroom and made short work of cleaning himself up, though he did take the time to stroke himself off with the image of his mate and his lover in the shower not fifty feet away.

By the time he was out, so were Marie and Jake, dressed and getting breakfast around. He put on his best hurt face, wrinkling his nose.

"You're just lucky I didn't have a paperweight handy," Marie teased.

"You're lucky he didn't decide it was worth it for the show," Jake winked at her. "It's not often he gets a chance to watch that."

"Oh, I'm sure I'll get other chances," Chance winked back. "Looked like it was just about to get good. _I_ didn't know you liked doing that."

"Neither did I," Jake shook his head a bit as they all sat down to the welcomed hot breakfast of cinnamon French toast, fried ham and scrambled eggs with cheese. "But it was rather fun."

" _Very_ fun," Marie blushed.

"Maybe tonight we can see what else the water can inspire in him, mmm?" Chance rumbled with an eager purr. "She hasn't tried out the hot tub yet."

"Ooh, that sounds good to -" There was a heavy rapping at the door, interrupting Marie. "Who gets that?" She asked, looking between them.

"I will," Chance put on his fiercest 'you have just knocked _way_ too fucking early in the morning' glower while Jake snickered.

"We aren't trying to give them a heart attack, you know," Jake pointed out as the tabby headed into the living room to check who was at the door.

"Jaeger!" Chance yelled to his partner even as their door began to give under the brute force assault that began almost immediately once the person on the other side realized they weren't getting through the easy way.

"Hide," Jake told Marie sharply, running to grab their Glovatrix.

"Chien, guard," she yelled to the mastiff growling at the door. He howled, his body shifting as the door broke.

Chance dove out of the way and for a heavy blaster rifle hidden inside the base of their couch and opened fire without much bother to aim other than to be sure he was going to hit the right target.

"Like that'll stop me," Jaeger sneered at him even as he got a face full of mini-missiles from Jake's Glovatrix.

Chien charged him, not bothering with his face this time; he went lower, tearing into Jaeger's thigh, biting into meat and on something a bit more intimate that made the werewolf howl in rage and pain that was distinctly more personal than most attacks. He grabbed hold of the animal's jaw, prying until bone cracked and muscle ripped, raking his face with his claws and gouging out an eye, leaving Chien largely helpless in his pain and rage.

It distracted Jaeger from the coordinated combat team he was facing though, at least enough for Chance and Jake to both get several good shots in.

His body bleeding heavily from several wounds, Jaeger ripped the door off, charging in, using it as a shield. He slammed into Chance, smashing him back against the wall and through the plaster, then whirled about on Jake to face a half-dozen rapidly fired metal spikes that drove into his flesh even threw the door. The injuries didn't mean much, until their payload kicked in and began to screw with his nervous system and dissolving his muscles nearly as fast as he could regenerate it.

"Well beyond deadly, to anything else." Jaeger sneered at him and closed the distance fast, only catching two more bolts before he was on top of the moving kat. "Too bad for you that I'm not anything else," he added, grabbing Jake by the throat and picked him up, choking him to the brink of unconsciousness within seconds.

He stiffened a moment later, his legs going lax as he dropped to the floor, dropping Jake, who had to focus on breathing no matter how badly he wanted otherwise .

" _That_ wasn't nice," he snarled, turning to grab Marie as she dropped the knife she'd just put through his spine.

"Neither's trying to kill my friends," she growled back, utterly defiant in the face of an opponent she didn't stand a chance against.

"You're lucky I need you, bitch, or I'd show you how _very_ not nice I can be," he growled, hearing sirens approaching in the distance, picking her up and bolting for the back of the house, gambling that the security wouldn't attack if she was with him.

He bet wrong, and two steps out found his foot trapped in a beartrap ... a polar bear trap. He reached down, prying it open and freeing his foot, breaking the mechanism. He took a moment for his foot to heal, then took a mighty leap for the edge, jumping as soon as he landed.

As he fled, Jo, Taggart, and Carter rushed into the front.

"Jo, is he still here?" Carter asked her brusquely. She was still in her crinos form, as she had been since before he'd been up.

"Around back," she all but snarled and made it to the roof in an easy leap, then across it to give chase.

"Let me through, they're going to be hurt," Taggart said, hurrying into the room to check on Chance and Jake, see if they were still alive or not.

The smaller tom was choking on the floor; injured but conscious and likely not critical. A quick glance around spotted the hole in the living room wall and the low moan coming from beyond it.

"Gonna... kill... that bastard," Chance managed to groan, crawling out of the hole. "Fuck... that rib's a new one...."

His attention focused on Jake's crumpled form as he struggled to his feet.

"Jake!"

"Yeah." Jake wheezed, managing to look up as he struggled to breathe through a partially crushed windpipe.

"Fuck," Chance whispered, kneeling next to him, trying to see what he could do to help.

"I can help," Taggart offered, kneeling to examine him.

Despite every instinct in him screaming to get away, Jake held himself still and let the human touch his throat. He only trembled slightly as the part that had been cracked and pushed inward was handled gently.

"Note used to patients that can talk?" Chance glanced at him, still a little uneasy knowing this guy was a vet and not a doctor.

"I haven't had a complaint yet," Taggart informed him. "Jake, this is a little unorthodox, but you'll breath a lot easier until a real fix can be done."

Chance and Jake exchanged looks, then Chance nodded. "All right." He saved his partner the breath.

Taggart nodded and carefully manipulated the cartilage in Jake's damaged windpipe so it sat roughly where it should.

"Better," Jake managed to croak, breathing more easily.

"Good," Taggart nodded. "My nanites will heal that in a few hours."

Another shared look between the kats, and Chance nodded, though he didn't look nearly as okay with it.

"I can fix your ribs too," Taggart offered.

"No," Chance said, shaking his head. He could operate like this. Taggart pulled out one of the tubes of the microscopic robots and poured them over Jake's throat.

"Is Marie around here somewhere?" Chance asked as the nanites went to work. "She was hiding, but... if Jaeger's gone, he probably didn't just go because of you guys."

"Saved my life," Jake whispered, trying to be careful of his throat while giving the information that was needed. "Said he needed her."

"Jo's after them now," Carter reassured them. "We _will_ find him. You two work on healing up."

"I'll get your ribs taped for you at least," Taggart offered.

"Thanks," Chance nodded, even though most of his attention was on watching Jake's every breath, checking that each one continued to improve while Taggart worked on binding his chest.


	8. Shattered Innocence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaeger makes a rather pointed statement to Carter and Jo finally gets it through Jaeger's thick skull that his attentions are not at all welcome.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written with Karl Wolfemann

"I'm going to be out for a while," Jaeger told Marie and Jean a few days after their arrival. "Don't try anything stupid," he added, heading up the exit, the sound of metal twisting as he wrenched his 'lock' into place.

"Like we've got a _chance_ to try anything," Marie muttered. "So... what are we going to do?" She asked her father, the first chance they'd had to plan _anything_ since she'd arrived.

"We're going to try to survive until help arrives," he said simply. "That means working on this."

"Right," she murmured. "I'll go grab something for us to eat," she sighed, heading out of the room. She knew the bunkered was wired... didn't know if it was on or not, but Jaeger wasn't stupid enough to leave them _entirely_ alone to plot.

She just hoped that help would be here soon. There was only so long they could stall... especially when she didn't know what her father was actually trying to do, and couldn't ask him.

While she worked on putting together a couple sandwiches, her father followed her into the makeshift kitchen.

"I'm going to see if there's anything back in the supply closet," he explained. "Come give me a hand, Marie."

She nodded and followed him, confused as to what supply closet he was talking about, until he led her to a back room that she hadn't looked at before.

"If there is surveillance here, it is extremely well hidden," he told her quietly.

"Good," she sighed. "So... what's the plan? We have to do _something_ about this."

"Yes, we do," he agreed. "We need to recreate the painkillers we had for you, you do not have much longer before you won't be able to think without them."

"Dad ...."

"Yes, I know, but I need you with me for this," he countered. "We need a way to take him down fast if we can, and we do have to work on what he actually wants us to work on, but try to make it less than what he wants."

"That _sounds_ great, but what are we actually going to try and do?" She asked. "It'd be handy to know what it is that you're doing so I won't accidentally undo it."

"With the Garou creation serum, the easiest is to limit how long it lasts," he told her. "For stopping him ... I'm not sure. I think I can create something that will either drop him, or possibly lock him in a form for a while."

"What about something that'll kill his regeneration?" She asked softly. "Have to stop him somehow."

"Block his shifting into crinos and it will block his regeneration," he told her. "Neither human nor wolf form has any extraordinary abilities."

"I hope you have an idea how to do that," she murmured. "Do you have any of our notes about a way to halt _my_ shift?"

"A few, and quite a bit still in my head," he smiled slightly. "We will manage this, Marie," he squeezed her arm gently. "You need to focus on keeping up your calories for your transformation or you will hurt yourself."

"I'm pretty sure he doesn't care," she murmured. "Going to be tricky if the supplies we have is all that's there."

"You _don't_ need to keep me as well fed as you are," he pointed out. "I could stand to lose a few pounds."

"Dad!" she objected sharply.

"It's the truth," he countered. "He's not going to starve us, dear. He wants us to be healthy enough to work and you can't work well when all you can think about is being hungry. As long as we're making progress on his project, he'll keep us fed. Look, trust your father here, okay? Believe it or not, he's not the worst employer I've had so far... not in terms of work conditions, anyways. We _can_ stop him. We just need to actually do it. Now, we can't spend _too_ much longer in here."

"Right," she nodded. "New topic for as we walk out?"

"What happened to Jake and Chance?" He suggested as they started out, carrying a few of the supplies that Jaeger had stowed in the largely useless room.

"Chance was thrown through a wall, Jake was choked, unconscious or dead, I don't know," she admitted, almost instantly subdued.

"They're sturdier than he'll kill easily, Marie," he reassured her gently.

"I just... that morning, Jake sounded... it sounded like he _expected_ to die, before long. Or to be ripped back into his world," she murmured.

"You _will_ see him again," Jean said, more firmly, as they went back into the kitchen and finished making lunch.

"I want to believe that," she shivered before pushing it to the back of her mind. She had to be able to eat. Focusing on death wouldn't do any of them good.

"You'll see, I am right," Jean turned her around and hugged her tightly. "It's all right to cry, dear. To be afraid. You have every right to both."

"Not while he's around," she murmured, shuddering. "Won't give that sick bastard the satisfaction... did you hear about the school?"

"In graphic detail," he nodded grimily. "Come on, let's eat and get back to work."

"Right," she nodded, the two of them taking their sandwiches back to the lab to start back to work on their assigned task, and the ones they wanted to do.

* * *

Belinda jumped as the doorbell rang, looking over at the door almost like she expected it to be smashed in.

The nineteen year old had come back to Eureka for a break from school... some break. She'd known growing up there that the city was weird, but leave it to Eureka to have a school werewolf-ing, rather than a school shooting.

"I'll get it," she called out as she heard somebody hurrying down the stairs. The sun was still out, the GD's were watching for any sign of the lunatic who'd killed those kids ... it was safe enough to see what was up.

Besides, as the doorbell rang again, somewhat insistently, she decided they might need some help.

"Yes?" She opened the door to a tall, heavily muscled man with short, steel-grey hair that looked like his road clothes had seen the wrong side of a dust storm.

"Hi," he smiled down at her. "I was hoping you could direct me to a hotel or somewhere that's actually open?"

"You try the B&B up the road a ways?" She asked him.

"Like I said, open," he chuckled sheepishly. "Place was locked up and nobody was home."

Beverly was probably at Global, getting a head start on the therapy the town would be needing for the next few years.

"Hang on a sec," Belinda said, turning back into the house. "Mom, Dad, somebody at the door!" She called out. "What're you doing out here just now?"

"Well, I'd been out on my bike, shooting for one last ride this year before the weather got too dicey, and just happened to come through this town. Went by one of the stores, they told me about the B&B, but then they hustled me out and told me to hurry, like they thought vampires were coming out at sunset or something," he chuckled.

"Not vampires," she told him seriously. "Something does come out at night here, though. Something that likes to kill. It's not safe to be outside."

"Correct," her father added as he came up and sized up the stranger, not liking him much. "You'd be best served by getting out of the county before then."

"So there's no place in _town_ that'd have a room open?" The stranger asked with a sigh. "Was hoping to get a night off, I've been riding for the last day straight."

"We _do_ have the spare guest room," Belinda pointed out to her father quietly. "And odds are he won't be out of here before sundown," she added, nodding towards the quickly-descending evening sun.

"We can't leave him out there, Ethan," her mother said very quietly. "He'll be the only human target."

"What's up in this town?" He asked a little dubiously, looking back over his shoulder, his concern unvoiced but clear.

"Something very deadly is in the area," Ethan answered. "It's killed twenty-one people so far."

"Holy...."

"Dad, we have the space, let's just let him stay and get him inside before dark," Belinda said, stepping back to make room for him to come in. "After all, it's not _always_ at night."

"Yes, come in," Nelly motioned him inside, over the half-formed objections of her husband. "This is no time to be unwelcoming to strangers."

"Especially handsome ones," Belinda smiled shyly.

"Thanks," he chuckled. "If it helps, I'd be willing to pay for the room and dinner," he offered, heading inside and closing the door behind him, hearing the deadbolt click into place. "What _is_ the name of this town, anyways?" He asked curiously.

"Eureka," Belinda smiled.

"Huh. You guys know it's not on any of the maps around here?"

"Yes," Ethan said simply. "And we like it that way. So, what's your name?"

"Hunter Carlson," the stranger said easily.

"I'll show Hunter his room," Belinda offered, leading him up to the stairs to a simply decorated guest bedroom that likely spent most of it's time serving as a gameroom for the family.

"You are quite pretty, Belinda," Hunter smiled flirtingly at her.

"Thank you," she smiled. "You're pretty handsome yourself," she added with a winning smile as he headed into the guest room and put his pack down on the bed. "By the way, where's your bike?" She asked curiously.

"Rental locker down near the Sheriff's office," he said easily. "If I'd known there was some serial killer around town, I'd have brought it with me instead of walking around," he chuckled.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," she nodded and turned around to head downstairs. "It's pretty scary for everybody."

"Well, at least your Dad seems to be the sort who can take care of his family," Hunter smiled, following her down. "It'll be nice having a real bed for a night," he admitted.

"Not many hotels where you ride?" she asked curiously.

"Not by the time I decide to crash for the night ... and I'm not sure I'd call most of them real beds," he smirked as they entered the living room again. "Especially not a lot of the little cheap places I come across."

"Well, you'll have a real meal and real bed tonight," Belinda told him firmly.

"And maybe a warm bed?" he raised an eyebrow at her, his voice low enough to not reach her parents.

She blushed faintly, ducking her head.

"Well... we'll have to see if there's a way to turn up the heat in there a bit," she said shyly.

Hunter smiled at her and followed his nose towards the dinning room. "Dinner smells delicious, Ms ...." 

"Nelly Crezic," the older woman smiled at him. "My husband is Ethan, our daughter Belinda and my cousin's sons, Edmond and CJ."

"Nice to meet you," he smiled politely to them all. "Picked a heck of a time to visit," he chuckled to the two younger boys, who moved away from him, fear in their eyes.

"They saw their mother killed by the thing out there," Nelly explained and hugged the pair reassuringly. "It was only a few days ago. They're still in shock."

"Ah man, I'm sorry," he apologized sincerely and knelt to be on the eye level of the two boys, using all his knowledge to put them at ease with body language and stripping every trace of aggression from his manner. "I'm not a bad guy, Edmond, CJ. I'm just a traveler passing through that your aunt and uncle have been kind enough to take in for the night."

"You're good at that," Belinda smiled at him warmly as the two boys relaxed a bit more.

"Used to work with animals," he explained as they all took their seats. "Kids, it's a lot alike."

"I've never tried that," Nelly admitted and began serving up the spaghetti and meatballs with steamed greens and corn on the cob. "What do you do when you aren't on the road?" she asked pleasantly.

"Depends, really," he said easily. "Mechanic, security work, a little bounty hunting from time to time. Used to be in the military; I'm still getting used to not _having_ to get up at dawn every day," he grinned. "Enjoying the freedom."

"Sounds like fun," Belinda grinned and accepted her plate. "Were you in the Gulf War?"

"The Gulf, Grenada, got out of Basic just in time to be shipped out to Cambodia and Laos," he nodded, taking a plate. "Thank you, ma'am," he said politely to Nelly. "Did a little work down in Columbia just before I retired."

"Ranger?" Ethan asked him.

"Yep," Hunter nodded. "And no, I wasn't anywhere near Pablo," he chuckled. "Get asked more questions about that, since that book came out."

"You've seen a lot of the world," Belinda looked over at him eagerly.

"And if he's anything like the Rangers I know, he can't talk about nine-tenths of it," Ethan added with an understanding look at Hunter.

"You're both right," Hunter chuckled. "You're ex-mil too? Or still in?" He asked Ethan curiously.

"Neither," he shook his head. "I just work with a lot of them. Security isn't much different from what they say, at least around here."

"Fair enough," Hunter nodded. "Maybe one of these days I'll settle down around here," he mused. "Anyways, for now I'm just glad to be out of warzones and back in the States."

"And you managed to ride right into one," Ethan chuckled ruefully. "With any luck we'll all survive the night and you'll be out of the area before anything happens."

"Yeah... y'know, I don't have to be anywhere in particular, if you need a little more help around here?" Hunter offered. "Not that I'm really looking to stay, but it sounds like you could use a little help."

"You'll want to talk to the sheriff, Jack Carter, about it," Ethan told him. "But frankly, I'd welcome any help we can get."

"Maybe I'll see about it tomorrow," Hunter mused.

"On to more pleasant subjects?" Nelly suggested. "What's the most beautiful place you've seen?"

"Mmm... I'd have to say Angkor Wat," he decided after a few minutes. "Massive temple complex in Cambodia," he explained. "Now that a lot of the restoration work has been finished, it's a little less mysterious, but still impressive, especially now that it's been opened up to the public again."

"I can imagine," Belinda smiled dreamily, a look that held through dinner as hunter talked of the places he'd been, the people he'd met and the kinds of food he'd eaten, carefully keeping the more disturbing parts to Western appetites out of the rendition.

It was actually kind of fun to be able to just talk about nothing and have people fascinated by it all. It even surprised him when Ethan politely broke in at a pause and insisted it was time for folks to go to bed.

Not that he minded, really.

"Mind if I grab a hot shower?" Hunter asked as he stood up and started for the stairs.

"Not at all," Nelly smiled at him as the family stood and Ethan herded the children to bed. "It is the door beyond your room."

"Thanks," he said easily, heading up to his room to grab a spare pair of boxers and a towel from the linen closet. He listened to the people move about the house, settling in for the night while he cleaned up. Despite hopes for consensual sex with the daughter and his plans for the rest of the night, it really was nice to have a leisurely hot shower.

When he was done, he walked back to his room for the night, taking a brief detour to see if he could hear any signs of life from the other rooms.

Most of them were quiet... but he was pretty sure that Belinda was up yet. Excellent. If she did what he expected, she would come to his room shortly. It would work best if she did.

He'd show her a very good time too. He smiled to himself and got into bed, enjoying the feeling of soft, clean sheets and the anticipation of sex.

A few minutes later, she came up, looking into his dark room quietly.

"Your door's open," she observed.

"I was hoping for company," he told her with a low chuckle. "Come in if you want."

"Am I really that obvious?" She asked with a blush, walking into the room and closing the door quietly behind her. "I don't usually do things like this, but you're... something else," she smiled, approaching the bed in nothing more than a light cotton nightgown.

"To me you were," Hunter smiled up at her. "And thank you," he inclined his head slightly before lifting the sheet some. "Care to join me?"

"Kinda why I'm here," she giggled, crawling in with him, running a hand down his incredibly well-muscled body. "If you don't mind me asking... just how old are you?"

"Just turned fifty-one," he told her the truth, one of the few left in his life around humans, and slid his hands along her side, eager to be rid of her nightgown but holding back for now. "You?"

"You don't look it," she told him, both in compliment and honest surprise. "I'll be nineteen next month. Well past legal."

"I take good care of myself," he rumbled, turning to kiss her lightly. "And good to know... though I'm sure your Dad would disagree," he chuckled, slipping his hands up under her nightgown, running his powerful hands up her bare, smooth skin.

Just how long had it been since he'd enjoyed somebody like this?

"I expect so," she giggled and reached back to upzip her nightgown, then helped him get it off and on the floor before kissing him solidly and teasing her fingers under the waist of his boxers.

"Mmm ... eager, aren't you?" He chuckled, sliding his boxer's off and reaching up to fondle her full breasts.

"For somebody with a body like yours, can you blame me?" She grinned, reaching down further to fondle his shaft and balls lightly. "I've _really_ never done this before," she whispered, kissing him deeply, rolling towards her back and trying to coax him up on top of her.

They both felt the surprise hit him, and suddenly he kissed her more gently even as he shifted on top of her and rubbed his erection against the slickness between her legs.

"Used a toy?" he asked and kissed her jaw, only just holding back until he found out what he was in for.

"No," she admitted, blushing. "Don't have to be _too_ careful though; used to be in gymnastics."

He didn't quiet get it, but he took her on her word and reached down to spread her labia's lips with one hand to make it easier to press into her tight, hot body.

"Oh God," Hunter groaned as he buried himself in a body tighter than he'd had for a very long time, and never willingly.

"So _big_ !" Belinda whimpered, kissing him hotly to muffle her own groan.

She had _no_ idea.

Hunter began to thrust, taking some care to rub against her clit as he enjoyed himself with her body.

She moaned softly, her body hot and wet and tight as a glove as his shaft slid in and out of her. He kissed her, starting to speed up as she raised her legs and wrapped them around his waist, reaching down to pull him up against her a bit harder.

"Fuck," she moaned. "Never... oooh... never knew it felt like this...."

"Sex is good," he chuckled as he felt his balls begin to tighten and thrust even deeper into her, claiming her mouth with a hungry kiss to muffle the growling grunts he made as he flooded her body with his seed.

She whimpered softly, pressing up against him, her body clenching down around his shaft as the warm, thick seed flowing into her triggered a ripple of pleasure that ran through her from womb to toes and left her decidedly euphoric as they stilled, still joined together.

"Want more?" Hunter asked her seductively.

"Mhm," she grinned lazily up at him. "Mmm ... anything special you want to show me?" She asked, leaning up to give him a gentle kiss on the jaw.

"Somebody's tempting fate," he chuckled.

"I mean it," she murmured, squeezing down around him, shivering a little as she felt their mixed juices dribble down the crack of her ass. "Anything you want, long as y'don't do something that'll tip Dad off."

"I think I can manage that," he told her eagerly with a heated, possessive kiss as he pulled out of her body and got out of bed. "Kneel on the floor."

She did so without any hesitation, grunting a bit as she tried to stand but her legs proved too wobbly, dropping with a thud and giggling.

"Sorry," she blushed, spreading her legs and enjoying the naughty, taboo feel of their juices dribbling down her thighs.

"Don't worry about it," Hunter chuckled quietly as he fetched a length of rope from his pack and tied her arms behind her, wrist to elbow. He turned the lights back on and surveyed his work appreciatively before he sat on the bed in front of her. "Come here, pretty, and clean me up."

"Mmm... do I want to know why you've got that?" She asked teasingly, crawling forward on her knees, nuzzling the inside of his thighs and licking his balls, then his half-hard shaft, getting used to the flavor of both his arousal and her juices.

"Nothing too kinky," he promised with an approving sound for her eagerness. "Just a long night of sexual education."

"Mmm... just remember, I need enough time to shower before anybody's up to catch us," she grinned up at him, working him to full hardness before taking him into mouth, rolling his foreskin forward and slipping her tongue between it and the thick, spongy, flavorful head of his cock.

"Oooo, you've done this before," he moaned and caressed her hair, more than a bit turned on by the willing submission that was so much more honest than Jo's.

She nodded slightly, looking up into his eyes, clearly enjoying it as she worked both nerve-dense surfaces skillfully, tilting her head to rub his inner thigh with her cheek and soft brunette hair.

"Mmmm, I think I'll let you finish this," Hunter rumbled and began to guide her a little more directly as his balls began to tingle.

She grinned, bobbing her hand up and down his shaft, suckling happily, moaning as she tasted the pre starting to dribble from his tip. Her body ached to be filled again, to feel him come inside her, but she had to make him come like this before he might consider it.

Finally, he groaned, spraying his seed into her mouth to be swallowed with surprising skill for somebody who at least claimed to be having sex for the first time.

Belinda coughed a bit once he'd finished, pulling back and licking her lips clean.

"Mmm ... delicious," she grinned.

"So, my pretty thing who hadn't had sex but does that so well, were you lying to me?" Hunter tipped her chin up, fully expecting an explanation.

"Not at all, sir," she murmured, turning her head to kiss his hand. "You're the first guy I've ever had inside me. What we just did... doesn't really count as sex, I've never thought," she said with a shrugging roll of her shoulders. "Kinda like a handjob."

"I see," He chuckled and stroked her cheek with his thumb before guiding her to her feet and pushing her back down on the bed, her arms arching her back and spreading her legs, bent back at the knees, in a most delightful way. "Then I don't think I'm quite done with the inaugural exploration of your pussy," he said and rubbed his powerful fingers along the dripping slickness between her spread knees.

"Oooh... I'm not about to complain," she grinned up at him, her clit engorged between her swollen labia. Soon she whimpered, not sure who was enjoying the show more but desperate for him to finish playing and take her again.

"So hungry," Hunter grinned and removed his fingers. He put a hand on each thigh and spread her legs wide before he thrust into her with a single hard motion than became a pounding rhythm as she whimpered and convulsed around and under him in ecstasy she had no idea was possible.

"I... ooh! Mmm ... could do worse than... nnngh... bein' hungry for you!" She moaned, squeezing down around him as he drew out of her, making the thrust that followed even better as he drove her towards another orgasm. "Oh God, Hunter!"

"Do I have to muzzle you?" He grinned at down her. "Your parents do not need to be woken up by your screams."

"Mmm ... if you have one," she blushed, whimpering as he pulled out completely, "might be a good idea."

"I can improvise," he chuckled and pulled out a bandana, twisting it into a passable gag and tied it around her head. He trailed his fingers down her trembling body as went back to between her legs and leaned over her before thrusting into her again with his full power.

She moaned and whimpered into the gag, and into his mouth when he kissed her through it. Her body spasmed and clenched around him as she tried to hold off, hoping to make him come with her in vain.

Hunter just grinned and continued pounding into her, enjoying each time she lost control and began to struggle against her bonds only to settle down again in surrender.

* * *

Hours later, Belinda woke up in an uncomfortable position, still gagged. She groaned softly, wondering why she wasn't in the bed anymore... she didn't _think_ Hunter had made her sleep on the floor. She was still pleasantly sore though, and started to open her eyes to see what was up... until she realized that she was in the living room... and wasn't alone.

Her mother was bound and naked, much like she was, her father was in his boxers and tied to a chair with a good view of both of them. She couldn't see her cousins, and wasn't all that sure whether to be grateful of afraid for them. On the couch facing the lit fireplace was Hunter, casually sipping a glass of red wine.

"Mmmph?" She looked around, trying to figure out what was going on, and increasingly convinced that things were very, _very_ wrong.

As she turned her head, she realized that her hair was different somehow. She shook it, and realized that her long, brunette hair had been cut and dyed blond at some point... how had he managed _that_ while she was asleep?!?

"Pity you don't have green eyes, but it will do well enough." Hunter told her absently.

"'een... ut 're 'ou -"

"Oh hush," he snorted, standing up and walking over to her, naked as he'd been the night before. "Now listen to me. If you scream, then very, _very_ bad things are going to happen. Do you understand?"

She slowly nodded, her gut in a knot about how he could manage to make 'very, _very_ bad things happen' given what was apparently being set up.

"That's a good girl," he chuckled, starting to undo the gag. "Now remember, no screaming." He took the gag off, setting it aside, clearly watching her reaction.

She didn't scream. She didn't do anything but shrink back away from him, watching for any sign of an action she would have to try and avoid.

"That's right. Be quiet and you'll be fine," he nodded and turned his attention to her parents who were starting to come around. "I really should feel bad about doing this to the people who tried to be good citizens, but such are the horrors of war," he told them as the pair assessed the situation. "Besides. You _really_ should have known better than to let in a stranger with things like this going on around town," he told Ethan patronizingly.

"Who the _fuck_ are you?" Ethan demanded.

"Jaeger mean anything to you?" He chuckled darkly.

"Jae ... oh my God," Ethan whispered. "You're the one ...."

"Very good," Jaeger nodded. "You know, I haven't done anything like this in America in a _long_ time... hope I'm not rusty," he half-grinned, moving over to Nelly and caressing her cheek lightly.

"Please, just take whatever you want and don't hurt us," she begged. "We won't tell anybody."

"You'll have to settle for two out of three, dearie," he laughed, shaking his head. "Though with as kinky as you seem to be, you might actually enjoy some of it."

"W-what are you talking about?"

"Mmm ... that _magnificent_ collection of toys you have, of course," he chuckled. "I'm going to do things to you you've never imagined," he crooned.

"Leave her alone!" Ethan shouted. Jaeger turned, striking him across the face with the back of his hand.

"You're not in charge here anymore, Ethan! I am. And I'll do whatever I want... with whoever I want to do it with." He turned, walking back over to Belinda, kneeling beside her and giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Besides. I know that _she_ isn't going to mind... she certainly didn't last night. Came right to me, claimed I was her first. Had to gag her to keep her cries of ecstasy from waking you."

"Liar!" Ethan shot back, only to look sick at the apologetic expression his daughter wore.

"Why are you doing this?" Nelly asked quietly.

"Because I want to send a message," Jaeger grinned. "Nobody's safe in Eureka. Staying inside isn't going to protect you. Oh... and a little hint about who's next." He wrapped his arm around Belinda's shoulder. "Remind you of anyone _else_ who's fairly new in town?" He crooned, taking down a mirror off the mantelpiece so she could see her face.

She stared for a long time until the piercings placed it. "Zoe Carter."

"Got it in one," he grinned. "Mmm ... she is _quite_ the little bitch, you know that? Actually had a gun in school the other day." He clucked his tongue disapprovingly, putting the mirror back up. "I'm just going to give the Sheriff a little reminder that I remember his little darling... and that I _am_ going to pay her back for a _very_ irritating afternoon the next time she stops shaking and comes out to play."

"She's harder to kill than anybody," Belinda mumbled. "From LA. Crazy."

Jaeger looked at her, an amused expression on his face before he laughed, shaking his head.

"I suppose she is. So, why don't we show your parents what a good little slut you are, hmm? Or are you too shy now?" He chuckled, standing up and stroking her cheek.

She dropped her eyes. "You're going to do it anyway," she trembled slightly and leaned forward to nuzzle his groin.

"Ah, c'mon now," he smirked, groaning a bit as she coaxed his shaft to hardness. "After all ... this doesn't count, right?" He pointed out, reaching down to take her hair and tip her head back so she looked up into his eyes.

Belinda trembled, honestly at a loss as to how to answer it. Instead she distracted him from quizzing her by opening her mouth and licking his cock. It wasn't as hard as she'd imagined to ignore an audience, even her parents, with so much at stake. Maybe if she was good enough, he'd leave her folks alone, or at least not hurt anyone too badly.

She whimpered softly as he reached down and took hold of her head, slipping her tongue under his foreskin the way she had the night before. She was shaking as she pleasured him, privately disgusted at how casual, how matter of fact he seemed about it.... at how much _she_ had enjoyed doing the exact same thing to him the night before, not knowing the sort of monster she'd been with.

He'd made her feel so very good, even in complete submission. Why would he bother when he had this planned?

He started thrusting into her mouth, taking the same care with his touch he had the night before. Everything he was doing now felt as good as it had the night before... which only made it more twisted. She fought the urge to bite, to fight against him, to try and do something to get back at him.

She had to think about the others... her father and mother, being forced to watch, her cousins in the other room....

She moaned softly, trying to get into it as he became more and more aroused. She couldn't understand him, his care while he forced her to pleasure him, but she was sure Beverly would explain it. All _she_ had to do was survive this.

So she sucked on him, worked his cock with her tongue, and tried to remember what had gotten him off before so she could do it again.

It was different this time though. He pulled out and pushed her to her back, pressing his cock up between her breasts and squeezing them together around his length as he groaned deeply, pre slicking her smooth skin. Before long, he grunted, spraying his seed onto her face, shoulders, and breasts, his eyes squeezed shut as he made her into a shameful, obscene display for her parents. She just whimpered, closing her eyes and trying to swallow the bile she felt in the back of her throat.

He gave her a moment to recover, then pushed her back; her feet under her butt, her arms arching her back upward and her knees spread wide for him. Belinda moaned softly, unable to help the sound of pleasure when he caressed her sex lightly, making a point of arousing her with his fingers until her clit was hard and slick and she shivered.

"Please ...." Belinda whimpered, her body pressing into his touch against her will. She wasn't even sure what she was begging for.

"Please what?" He asked her, leaning down, licking the edge of her ear. He wasn't going to let her off that easily... he was going to force her to choose, the bastard. Force her to _say_ it in front of her parents in broad daylight.

"Please... take me," she sobbed, then moaned in bliss as he pressed up into her with a smooth, practiced motion, starting to fuck her hard and deep. She couldn't look at her parents, couldn't stand to actually witness their reaction to this. It was all she could do to just keep playing the part, keep him happy by enjoying his use of her body. She had no doubt he really, really got off on this.

"Nnngh ... good girl," he grunted, kissing her as he rutted her, his shaft sliding in and out of her body, fresh fluids mingling with ones from the night before. Tears ran down her cheeks, betrayal, shame, and arousal in her scent mingling to turn on the monster above her more than anything he was doing to her as he shifted to hit her g-spot, forcing her to enjoy his brutal fucking. 

"Such a lovely little slut," he bit her nipple hard as he came, his seed flooding her body once more and he continued to pound into her until she screamed in pleasure instead of pain and her body tightened around him, encouraging him to stay hard. "I'm going to keep you around, enjoy you for a very long time," he promised in her ear as he slid out.

He groaned, his body starting to warp and twist as he grew, shifting to the monster that had attacked the school... then to shift back down, shrinking to the form of a four-legged wolf that looked at her with the same lusty, horrible expression he'd had when she'd first seen him this morning.

"No!" She yelled, unable to just lay there and take it any more, trying to twist to get away. He jumped up on her, his forelegs wrapping around her waist, dewclaws raising welts as he rubbed a thick, hard, lupine cock against her ass. "Please don't," she begged. "No."

He pressed his muzzle against his mouth and forced his tongue into her mouth as he pressed his canine cock into her ass, still loose from the night before. The tapered shaft with its thick base was very different than what he'd felt like the night before, but it was the thick fur and canine smell that struck her as the most different.

"Stop!" She begged, or tried to beg, as he started to fuck her hard and deep, her ass aching, but gradually starting to warm to the feeling, his hot shaft stretching her out, her own juices mixed with his as they provided just enough lube to keep her from feeling like he was going to tear her apart. His tongue delved into her mouth, then out, lapping at her breasts. She moaned shamefully, pleasure streaming through her body as she felt herself giving in again.

What was _wrong_ with her? How could actually enjoy this? This ... this _beast_ was raping her, she didn't even know if his mind was intact or if this really was a beast. Either way she couldn't tell if her sobs were of pleasure or relief when he filled her ass with his seed again and pulled out.

She didn't know what sound she made as his cold nose pressed into her soaking lower lips, then his canine tongue began to lap at her with careful attention to her clit.

"God... please... stop!" She begged, quietly, whimpering now. She _couldn't_ do anything louder as he licked her out, a velvet-soft tongue lapping at her sex, pulling their mingled juices out of it, up along her clit, soaking her with wolf-spit and the glistening fluids of her own building pleasure.

Finally, she couldn't hold out anymore. She arched up into the animal's tongue, crying out sharply as an orgasm ripped through her... then slumped to the ground, spent, whimpering as Jaeger turned towards her mother and began to nuzzle her sex, still in wolf form, making the same effort he had on Belinda to arouse Nelly.

The older woman tried to press her legs together, to push him away, but the spreader bar he'd fixed to her ankles limited how much he could do. She bit her lip so hard it bled, fighting to keep from moaning, her pussy-lips getting slick with her arousal, Jaeger's angry, bright-red shaft bobbing between animal hips as he jumped up, his forelegs around her shoulders as he shifted to work his cock up against her pussy.

"What _are_ you?" Nelly cried out, doing everything she could to twist away from him.

"A werewolf," Ethan answered her, his tone somewhere between outraged and broken. "A creation of Eureka and the Rangers. A fucking _psychopath_ ," he muttered, the feeling of complete helplessness as his wife cried out, of disgust and rage as he watched Jaeger's lupine cock slip into her pussy, something he couldn't do anything to fight or to deal with.

Nelly squeezed her eyes shut as the wolf raped her, lapping at her face happily, acting for all the world like a _vastly_ overly friendly dog. She tried to ignore it, to keep her body from accepting the pleasure he was forcing on her, but there was only so much she could do as his entire shaft swelled, a thick knot of flesh at his base popping in and out of her body and doing unimaginable things to her clit.

Jaeger threw his head back and howled as he came, flooding her body with his seed, though he didn't tie with her. He backed off a bit and shifted into human form before kneeling between her legs and fingering her sex, his thumb rubbing her clit until she was squirming uncontrollably. "I think I see where your daughter got her kinky nature from," he grinned down at Nelly.

"Bastard!" She managed to spit at him, moaning as he coaxed her to the edge of an unwelcome orgasm and kept her there, wolf-semen spilling out of her sex onto the floor.

" _Hardly_ fair," he said with a wry smirk. "You never even _met_ my parents. Now, apologize, or we'll see just how long you can hold out before you beg."

She just glared at him; defiant in a way her daughter wasn't built for, and endured the slow building of pleasure with growing hatred.

"Mmm ... all right then," he chuckled. "Maybe we try something else, hmm?" He leaned up to whisper into her ear. "If you don't straighten up and do as you're told, I _will_ make you wish that you had ... for their sake, if nobody else's. I've been doing this longer than that whore you call a daughter's been _breathing_ ."

"You are _sick_ ," Nelly spat at him.

"Likely," he chuckled and stood to pick Belinda up and put her between her father's legs. "I must admit, the idea of watching a father and daughter go at it appeals to me a great deal."

"W-what?" Belinda stammered, looking up at him.

"Do it, or your mother dies," he promised her. 

Belinda whimpered, looking between her parents, shivering.

"I'm sorry, Dad," she whispered, moving to pull his boxer's down with her teeth, closing her eyes and trying to focus on what she was doing, rather than who she was doing it with or why.

"Eyes open," Jaeger ordered. "Eyes open, and look up at him. Let him see how much his little baby like sucking his cock."

"I know it's not your fault, honey," Ethan told her even as he tried to deal with the concept that Jaeger fully expected him to get off from this, and his wife's life depended on it.

"Don't worry, you'll get to fill her cunt next," Jaeger sneered, moving to pull Nelly into his lap, rubbing his cock against her ass, kissing and nuzzling her neck as though he had a right to while Belinda took her father's cock, still only half-hard, into her mouth, doing her best to coax him to a full erection.

"I can't," Ethan looked at him, shocked even beyond this at doing such a thing.

"But she will, to protect you," Jaeger laughed and slid a hand between Nelly's legs to lift her up and sink his cock into her ass without any bother at prepping her.

"Ah God!" She cried out, squeezing her eyes shut as he stretched her tight body out, Belinda whimpering and risking a glance over, working harder to try and do what Jaeger had told them before he decided to hurt her mother any more than he already was.

"You'll get used to it," Jaeger promised in her ear and began to thrust into her. "Your daughter loves it."

"Stop it! Stop... talking!" She shouted at him, biting her lip as her body was stretched painfully and Ethan moaned shamefully, pumping a heavy load of seed into his daughter's mouth.

"As you wish," Jaeger took her face down to the ground and growled as he began to shift, his cock enlarging as much as the rest of him inside Nelly's body.

"Oh God... no - n-STOP!" She screamed, her bowels stretched to the limits as his warping form grew and swelled, his knot half-way into her ass, ripping the nerve-dense muscles of her entrance before forcing it in the rest of the way, thrusting from tip to hilt as Belinda cried.

"You said you wouldn't hurt her!"

"Never said that, cunt!" He grinned at her, reaching around to stroke Nelly's throat with his claws. "Nngh ... just said she'd die if you didn't!"

"How could you!" Belinda screamed and struggled in her bonds.

"Very easily," Jaeger laughed and continued to fuck the screaming woman being torn apart by his crinos-sized cock until he came, some of his seed bubbling up from where her skin had broken.

He literally ripped himself out of her, blood and semen dripping from her ass as he turned her around.

"See?" He growled, forcing his thick shaft down her throat, starting to strangle her as he face-fucked her, his cock noticeably bigger than her throat.

"Rahhh!" Jaeger roared in pain as his back and chest exploded from the heavy assault rifle's bullets.

He let the half-dead woman fall to the floor, coughing and trying to breathe as Jaeger moved over, taking several more rounds to the chest and stomach before he ripped the rifle from Ethan's hands.

"Congratulations," he growled, picking Ethan up by the throat. "You've just pissed me off." He threw Ethan across the room, then turned the gun around and fired a shot into Belinda's knee, albeit with some difficulty. She screamed, until he aimed the gun for her head.

"Come over here," he ordered Ethan, his voice a low, menacing growl.

"Or what?" The man demanded even as he began to shift to get his hands on anything that might qualify as a weapon. "You're going to kill us anyway."

"Wrong," Jaeger growled. "I was going to kill you, and your wife. You have a daughter who's too good a fuck to kill, and you've got two nephews who are scared, but just fine. _You_ decide if that stays the case. You die, and she dies," he explained, jerking his head towards Nelly. "But if you do what I say, _she_ doesn't. You don't, and you both get to watch your little girl beg for death."

"And why should I believe you?" Ethan demanded even as he tried to think of a way out of this. He couldn't count on help arriving until he was late for his shift in another three hours. The bastard had cut the lines to _everything_ and crushed all their wireless devices.

"Tell you what. I'll make it stop being an issue." Jaeger raised the gun, firing two shots, one through each of Ethan's knees before removing the clip from the weapon and tossing it to the side, his fur stained with blood as he went over to re-tie the troublesome man. "Just for all this, you're going to die _very_ slowly."

"Go ahead and try," Ethan dared him.

"Oh I will ... from here, you've got about two and a half hours to go," Jaeger rumbled, heading back over to where Nelly was laying, terrified, her body broken beyond the ability to move as he grabbed her head again.

"Get me hard again, bitch!" He snarled down at her, only to recognize the glazed look in her eyes as being beyond taking orders ... or even recognizing pain anymore. "Wimp," he muttered and turned to Belinda. "I guess you'll have to, since your mother can't."

"A-all right," Belinda whimpered, working up so she could do what he said ... then realizing that he wasn't going to come over to her. She crawled over, leaving a trail of blood from her shattered kneecap, leaned up and started to pleasure him with her mouth, entirely unwilling to take _any_ more chances with disobeying him.

* * *

Carter grunted as he climbed over a fallen tree, working with the search team to try and find Jaeger's base. He heard his cell ring, and sat down on the log he'd just stepped over and pulled it out.

"If this is another person demanding why we haven't caught him yet," he muttered, opening up his phone and taking the call. "Sheriff Carter."

"Ah, hello sheriff," a sickeningly familiar voice greeted him from the other end. "Just dropping you a note that you are searching in entirely the wrong area. And Belinda Crezic is one hot bitch."

"Belin -" The call ended, and Carter felt a knot form in his gut.

"Search is in the wrong area!" He shouted out to the team ahead of him. "Crezic house, just got a call!"

"From who?" The GDS lieutenant asked even as the group pulled out and headed for their vehicles.

"Jaeger," Carter told him. "This is going to be _bad_ ."

" _Shit_ ," the Lieutenant swore, all of them breaking into a run to get back as quickly as they could. "Somebody try to get hold of Ethan!" He shouted behind him as Carter moved to follow, not placing the name but still sure they were going to try and protect one of their own.

The problem was that if Jaeger was calling them... there probably wasn't much left to protect.

"All the lines are down, the wireless too," someone shouted at him as vehicles began to pull out.

Carter pulled out in front of the GD vehicles, sirens blaring and lights flashing as he sped into town, calling Taggart to let he and Jo know that something was up. He wasn't at all surprised to see that they'd gotten to the house first, given he had to call for directions.

What he _was_ surprised to see was two of GDS' finest on the lawn, throwing up.

This wasn't going to be pretty.

He climbed out and started in, his stomach twisting more and more as he approached the door, not sure where the rest of them were. Probably inside, trying to find Jaeger.

When he looked inside, he realized that it wasn't going to be nearly that simple. The smell of death and burned flesh filled the air, a dead woman on the floor, posed pornographically... there was something running on the TV just out of view, sounded like a porn flick, but he couldn't see it, and almost didn't care what it might have been.

Because the other person he could see from the entrance was a dead man, nearly disemboweled, sitting in the chair with a young woman, naked except for the bondage gear strapped to her, her head between his legs... her strait blonde hair stained with blood, and looking _entirely_ too much like Zoe.

He ran in, trying to tell himself that it couldn't be, that she was at home. Taking her head, he pulled her back. He was at once relieved and sick when he saw that it wasn't his daughter, and that she was alive... and that the poor woman's eyes showed every ounce of the trauma she'd been through. He pulled the ball gag from her mouth, and she let out a scream she'd been holding in for hours... and Carter really _looked_ at what had happened.

Jaeger had outdone himself... quite possibly outdone every serial killer that had come before him. Carter could tell that the man had been tortured to death, probably raped, the woman he'd just freed had _obviously_ been taken multiple times... and then there was the crowning touch.

On the TV, the video of Jaeger's torture session was playing, and he was busy raping the dead woman in his werewolf form, quite possibly what had killed her. Two boys he recognized from the school massacre were on the couch, tied up, nearly catatonic, though they didn't look like they'd been hurt. The Lieutenant was cutting them loose, looking over at Carter.

"I didn't know she was still alive," he said softly, his voice shaking. "The others are clearing the house."

"I doubt he's here," Carter told him as he got the screaming girl free of her bonds and tried to sooth her. "This doesn't have the feel of a trap. It's a message. A rather pointed one. Somebody grab a blanket!" He yelled at anyone in the vicinity that could obey.

One of them was out with a blanket quickly, wrapping it around the girl as she started to shake and sob.

"H-he... Z-Zoe... wanted me to be... f-for you...." She retched, trying to vomit, but her stomach was empty.

"I know," Carter tried to sooth her even as he worked to get her to her feet. "He's gone now. We're going to take you to Global's hospital, and Beverly's been called."

"We've called 911, and Henry's on the way to help with the scene," the Lieutenant told him. "Damn it... why this?" He asked, looking around angrily.

"I opened the door," Belinda cried, curling up like she hoped she could make the world go away.

Carter, honestly, rather wished she could too. He was going to have nightmares for _years_ after this one.

He just prayed he wouldn't have to touch the tape that was running looking for clues or to file the report... or he was sure he'd end up having far, far more of them.

* * *

* * *

* * *

Marie was crossing the small lab, a flask in her hand, when she felt something inside twinge.

Then the twinge turned into a twist, and into what _felt_ for all the world like a tear. She gasped, clutching her stomach, dropping the glass flask. It shattered, spilling its contents as Jean moved towards her, and she turned, moving away from the pale liquid to try and keep her father from getting too close to it.

She only made it a few steps before she collapsed to the floor with a scream.

Jean caught her, strong but gentle as he kept her from hurting herself until the sedative he injected took effect.

She trembled, her entire body shaking as she tried to stop screaming, pain wracking her body for the next few minutes until the sedative kicked in, knocking it down to intolerable, rather than something that made her want to rip the offending parts of her out.

"Shit," she whimpered softly, still in incredible pain but trying to ignore it. "What happened?"

"I'd say that the more invasive parts of your transformation have begun," Jean told her simply as he got her shoes and socks off to reveal distorted feet. You will need to be very carefully about walking for the next few weeks, and keep yourself well-sedated. We may want to ask about soft foods if I am right about how your new teeth will come in. Cutting a hole for your tail would be good too, or take to wearing clothing with a very high waist so it can grow out unhindered."

"Not supposed to be... this fast," she whimpered, trying to get to her feet, biting her lip so hard it nearly bled as she put weight on her fingertips.

"I'd say you should be careful about handling things as well," he helped her into a chair and examined her fingers. "Your claws are coming in as well."

"I noticed," she snapped, then shook her head, wriggling in the chair to find the most comfortable spot she could. "Sorry... wasn't supposed to go in this order...."

"Or this quickly," he nodded. "I would really prefer to have my lab, but we'll have to make due. Are you hungry?"

"Getting that way, but don't bet on anything staying down," she said grimly. "Ugh... my gut feels like it's burning up."

"What the fuck is going on in here?" Jaeger demanded, throwing open the door to the lab.

"I've hit the final stage of my transformation," Marie told him as levelly as she could. "It's rather like when you shift, but it will last months, rather than moments."

"And why the _Hell_ were you screaming like that then?" Jaeger asked bluntly, looking at her.

"I would _think_ you'd know," she growled.

"Yeah, but what _we_ go through takes a few minutes. What _you're_ going through is being stretched out over months, like you just said. Shouldn't hurt that bad, unless you've just got the pain resistance of a gnat."

"She also doesn't have the regeneration factor," Jean pointed out sharply. "You'd be surprised how much _more_ it would hurt without that. It would have been more than three of you who'd have died of the system shock."

"Why the hell wouldn't you build that in?" Jaeger started at both of them in utter disbelief.

"Because I don't particularly want to be a weapon," she snarled at him. "I'm not doing this to be like you, I'm doing it because I want to be something different! I'm not lookin' for immortality, I'm -" Her tirade was forcefully stopped as a cramp wracked through her head, like a migraine that swiftly swept through the rest of her body.

"Well, doc, you just got a reason to work faster," Jaeger growled to Jean.

Jean sighed and shook his head. "I am doing my best," he said simply. "You have asked for a great deal."

"Maybe, but at least one of you doesn't seem to be taking it too seriously," Jaeger pointed out, nodding towards the broken flask. "Maybe I don't have my wolf's senses like this, but I _can_ smell the difference between the serum and aconitine. Not smart."

"You expected something different after killing my boyfriend in front of me?" Marie snarled, what little control she naturally had on her temper long spent combating the pain.

"I expected that you'd have the common sense to realize that there's _nothing_ you can brew on your own that's going to seriously hurt me," he rumbled, dropping down a bit and gritting his teeth as he started the shift to his crinos form, hulking above her. "And even if there was, that you'd realize I _can_ do without you still breathing," he rumbled deeply, menacingly, and more than a little irritated with the fact that even in this form, she didn't smell afraid. Pain, rage, hatred ... but she wasn't afraid.

"Jaeger, you aren't going to intimidate her," Jean told him seriously. "Between the pain and the drugs she's on right now, she's not that cognizant of reality."

It earned him a fierce growl from his daughter that was stared down until she subdued.

"You seem to manage," Jaeger pointed out.

"I'm her father," Jean said. "She has always been reasonably obedient."

"I am sitting right here," Marie snapped at them.

"Then you might have a word with her about who _else_ she should be obedient to," Jaeger growled, turning around to stalk off.

"Bastard," Marie growled, trembling after the door closed, her fingers raking along the chair, her nails peeling off slightly.

"Marie!" Jean said sharply. "As much as I agree with you, he is right. Do not antagonize that man."

"I'm sorry, I'm not _exactly_ at my most rational just now," she pointed out. "Besides," she added more quietly, "then he focuses on me if something happens."

"That's not exactly a good thing," Jean told her. "You are the one with a future to look forward to. I only have a few years left anyway."

"What future?" She laughed, closing her eyes to hide the tears that were starting to form. "I'm a freak of nature, the guy I'm in love with is dead... and by the time we get out of this, we'll have given this psychopath the key to making the whole fucking world just like him."

"Marie, not all of those who were infected turned out like him," he reminded her. "Jo's a good person, and she's one of them."

"I know that," she sighed. "But even with that, almost forty percent mortality rate? By the time he's done, we won't have an overpopulation problem anymore."

"There also will not be humans left anymore," he actually shrugged. "Within a hundred years, there is unlikely to be a viable population of Garou left either."

"And how can you _possibly_ be so calm about that?" She snapped at him. "Damnit, Dad, this is what you've always _not_ wanted this family to be doing!"

"I know," he sighed as he went back to work. "I also know what Jaeger is capable of when he decides to shift his focus from turning humans into Garou to simply removing humans from the planet. There are worse things than being a shifter, or surviving long enough to be rescued. Rest, Marie," he said, starting to sweep up the shattered glass. "Just trust your father... I'll get us out of here."

* * *

"SWAT Kats; return to base," Carter called up to them several days later, calling off the search for the night yet again. The frustration they all felt was showing in their voices and shortening tempers, but the common military and law enforcement backgrounds helped keep things in order.

"Roger," T-Bone replied, bringing the jet around. He knew his partner was far less than thrilled with it, he was getting downright grouchy about not staying out, but they both knew sleep was important as the hunt for Jaeger stretched into it's second month.

"You _are_ going to get some sleep tonight, Razor," he said firmly. "We're not going out on our own again."

"All right," he gave in too easily, a sigh of either extreme exhaustion or that he was plotting something on his own.

"I'm serious, Razor," T-Bone said softly, quickly making his way back. "I'll strap you to the bed if I have to," he chuckled slightly.

"You won't have to," Razor shook his head with a weary chuckle. "I'm not planning to go anywhere."

"Good," T-Bone said, squeezing his shoulder. "You want to go handle the debrief, I'll take care of this? Shouldn't take long."

"Will do," he nodded and headed off to join Carter, Jo, Stark, Allison and some of the GDS leaders.

Chance turned, checking out the TurboKat, hoping that he _could_ get Jake to sleep. He hadn't seen him like this too often... but while he didn't need as much sleep as everybody else, the better part of a week was way too much. Even worse, it was starting to show. He wasn't as fast on his feet, not by much, but enough it was scary to the tom that daily relied on that sharp mind for his survival.

"Chance, how are things going?"

The familiar voice earned a look over his shoulder and smile at the older dark-skinned human approaching him.

"I dunno, how'd you say it's going when you can't find the sick son of a bitch who did that to Crezic after a week on the run, more than that since he started killing?" Chance shuddered. "Just about kill to have a nice simple giant monster again... don't suppose anybody's got something that'd make him about fifty feet tall and obsessed with climbing skyscrapers, do they?" He half-laughed.

"Well ...." Henry drifted off in thought.

"You... _do_ realize I was joking, right?" Chance asked dubiously. "It'd be easier, but he'd probably trash half the city first anyways trying to break into GD."

"Right, right," Henry nodded, then slipped a small flask from his pocket. "I thought you might find it easier to rest tonight if Jake wasn't as fidgety. Mix this with a drink, something warm would be best, and it'll relax him enough to fall asleep, but not knock him out."

"You've used it before?" Chance considered the milky looking substance.

"A made a couple tweaks to account for your more resistant physiology, but the basic formula has gotten me though some rough times," Henry nodded.

"Thanks," Chance murmured, slipping it into the pocket of his flight suit. "Hope I won't have to use it. How long should it work?"

"He should be drowsy in under fifteen minutes, asleep within half an hour if he doesn't fight it too hard and it should allow him to sleep himself out, likely an hour or two longer than his norm," Henry explained. "I've given you four doses there, but even drinking that much straight up wouldn't do more than knock him out for a few hours."

"I'll keep it in mind," Chance nodded. "Any side effects you know about?"

"No," he shook his head. "I made it as safe as possible; it was for myself."

"Okay," the tabby said. "Won't be the first time I've had to drug him... hope this is over soon, or he'll burn himself out even if he _does_ get the sleep he needs."

"We all do," Henry squeezed his shoulder. "This has to be over soon, for everyone's sake."

"Just have to get one clean shot at him from the TurboKat and there won't be enough _left_ to regenerate," Chance growled. "So, on the list of weird shit that happens around here, where'd you rate this?"

"For weirdness, a two, maybe a three," Henry chuckled softly, then sobered. "For how bad it is, a solid nine."

"I'll let Jake know he shouldn't work himself to death finding a way home after we get Marie then," Chance chuckled grimly as Jake started back. "Ready to head home?"

"More than ready," he nodded. "Hi Henry," he nodded to the human before leaping into the back seat of the jet.

"Hey Jake. Sleep well," he said as Chance climbed in and they took off for home. It was a short flight, and silent.

"So, want a shower before bed?" The tabby suggested as they headed in the back door.

"Always," he groaned, rolling his shoulders. "We're going about this wrong," he still managed to keep working.

"So what _should_ we be doing?" Chance asked, leading him to the bathroom and starting to undo his flight suit.

"If I knew that, we'd be doing it," Jake chided him before stripping down quickly, his mind so wrapped up with trying to find answers than he didn't even respond to his mate's buff, bare body.

"Jake?" Chance asked, stepping into the shower with the cinnamon tom. "Stop thinking. Just for a _few_ hours, okay? Your brain needs a break."

"I can't, no more than I could when you were missing," he looked up, his eyes fully acknowledging the danger he was in. "Chance, the answer is _close_ , I know we're close."

"Jake, do you have _any_ clue what Marie will _do_ to me if you've gotten yourself sick or hurt yourself trying to help her?" Chance groaned, trying to put it in terms that would mean it wasn't _Jake_ that his mate had to think about.

"Turn you into a frog again, I expect," he managed to tease him a bit before turning somber. "What do you think'll happen if she's hurt because we were sleeping?"

"She won't be, Jake," Chance murmured, hugging him before turning the water on. "He needs her, remember? To make her father work, if nothing else... and if we _did_ manage to find her, like this, she'd be in more danger than if we got some rest first," he said gently and stepped in with Jake. "Her father's going to protect her too. She's not alone."

"It's not working," Jake said quietly with a deep groan as the hot water sank into his muscles.

"Then let me distract it," Chance murmured, kissing him and pressing him back against the wall. Even under the circumstances, it was exciting how eagerly compliant Jake always was. "Wear you down a bit, then some hot milk and sleep?"

"Not going to complain," he shivered and pressed up against his mate, his body slower than usual to respond, but unquestionably willing.

"We _will_ save her, Jake," Chance whispered, kissing him hungrily and reaching down to fondle his sheath. "Promise."

Jake just moaned softly and pressed into the touch, willing his mind to shut up for a little while and let him rest.

Chance shifted one of his hands, spreading Jake's legs and pressing up against him, his own shaft hard already as he rubbed it against Jake's sheath and belly.

He slipped down, pressing himself against Jake's tight ass, then up, groaning deeply as the lean, cinnamon-furred tom stretched to take him inside. Tonight wasn't for the slow and sweet they'd had before Marie had been taken. Jake needed it hard and rough to tire them both out, and Chance gave it to him, quickly finding a pounding, punishing rhythm that bounced the smaller kat up and down along the wall, working his rubbery barbs against his prostate.

Jake cried out as his seed sprayed between them, streaking their chests with gooey pearls that the shower soon washed away.

"Want more?" Chance asked with a throaty purr, kissing him hungrily. The equally hungry squeeze of Jake's ass around his cock was more than enough answer to encourage him to begin thrusting again. It was going to be one of those nights where they probably didn't quite make it to the bed before passing out.

* * *

"So if they've had tracking devices in Marie and Jean for the past few years, why the _heck_ is it that nobody thought of using them until now?" T-Bone asked the next afternoon as he and Razor climbed up into the TurboKat, most of the day having been spent rigging up something with the dimensional radar.

"They did, but it doesn't work through whatever Jaeger's hidden them in," Razor explained as they began their pre-flight check. "This might."

"So what is 'this?'" T-Bone asked, working on the check while his partner explained.

"This is some of their scanning system hooked up to the dimensional radar and powered by the fusion generator we loaded and hooked up in the bomb bay."

"That should do the trick," T-Bone mused, starting to take off. "Let's just hope that damned thing doesn't get us thrown out of this dimension again."

"I hope so," Razor nodded, quietly desperate for this to work. "Just get us at altitude and see if we get a beep."

"Right. How high up? Couple hundred feet, or right above the forest?" T-Bone asked, starting up and watching the radar.

"Start at a thousand feet, let's work from there," Razor told him.

"Right," he nodded, taking it up. "You think Jaeger'll be there, or out somewhere?" He asked as they climbed gradually.

"I honestly hope out somewhere else," Razor admitted. "Got something," he perked up, focused instantly on what he was looking at. "Ten degrees east."

"Gotcha. If he _is_ down there... what the Hell are we going to do to keep the Moreaus from getting hurt?"

"Same thing we do to keep Callie safe when she's been captured," Razor told him with a nervous shrug. "We take a few stupid risks and hope they have the sense to run to the jet. Only this time we have backup that we don't have to run from."

"Speaking of backup, you send them the coordinates yet? We'll be there in a minute, tops."

"Carter, Jo, Taggart and the GDS are on their way," he nodded. "A thousand yards ahead, and about twenty feet underground."

"You want to go ahead on the Cyclotron?" T-Bone offered, bringing the jet down to the top of the trees.

"You know it," he admitted and slid his seat back to slid down into the bomb bay and got on his Cyclotron. He knew he wasn't breathing for several yards after he hit the ground at full speed and followed the signal from the jet above to his target.

It only took him a few moments to reach the bunker. It didn't look particularly fancy or noteworthy, save for the brush that had been positioned to hide it from most angles. Knowing that _something_ had to be there though, he could see where it was. While T-Bone cleared a landing space and set down, Razor was at the door, working on a way to get past the brute-force locking mechanism.

Ultimately, he simply decided that meeting it with brute force of his own was the best solution.

"Anybody inside there, get back!" He shouted, backing up and firing a volley of mini-missiles to destroy the door. The smoke hadn't even cleared when a form rushed out, stumbling with a snarl of pain as she tripped over some rubble and hit the uneven ground hard with several more sounds of displeasure before he got to her and tried to help her to her feet, but only managed to make her hurt more.

"Where is your father?" Razor managed to put his concern for her behind his concern for his mission with the knowledge that he couldn't help her here.

"Inside," Marie managed to say. "Jaeger's gone, back soon."

"I'm right here," Jean called, hurrying out as he could. "Get her up and out first! She needs to get to GD medical."

"There's no nice way to do this," Razor apologized and got her up in his arms, ignoring the way her cries twisted his gut, and led the way outside and to the jet just setting down.

"What happened?" T-Bone asked, dropping the ramp and hurrying down to help.

"Shifting too fast," Marie explained briefly as Razor and T-Bone both worked to get her into the back seat of the cockpit as quickly as possible. "Get Dad _out_ of there!"

"Backup's coming," Razor told her as he got her settled in the seat as best he could while T-Bone leapt down to help Jean find a spot inside the bomb bay.

Then things started to go wrong. Jaeger's massive, nine-foot frame crashed through the trees, rushing the TurboKat as he quickly realized what was going on.

"This time I'll kill you for real," he snarled at Razor and lunged up to swipe the kat from the side of the jet where he was balancing to settle Marie.

"We have weapons this time," T-Bone reminded him and opened fire with a volley of poisoned darts even as he made his way to the cockpit, ignoring even his partner's crumpled form to get to the heavy weapons that were their only real chance of surviving.

"Only if I let you at them," Jaeger snarled, whirling to swing at T-Bone, narrowly missing him with his claws and losing a hand to the razor-edged blades the tabby fired at him. Blood sprayed as T-Bone ducked under his next swipe and leapt into the cockpit, sliding the cover closed as he swiveled the jet around to protect Jean and Razor, who were still on the ground.

With the sirens of many vehicles approaching, Jaeger dove under the fuselage and grabbed Jean before taking off at a dead run into the thick forest.

T-Bone was out of the cockpit in a heartbeat and down to where Razor was struggling to get up.

"I have _got_ to learn how to dodge that guy," he muttered.

"It helps if you can see him coming," he pointed out, helping his mate to his feet, careful of the broken ribs he was sure would be there. "C'mon, we've got Marie."

"Dr. Moreau?" he asked and glanced over his shoulder at the backup arriving.

"Jaeger's still got him," T-Bone admitted. "They can find him though. Marie's hurting bad, and you need to get your ribs looked at," he said firmly, helping Razor into the jet.

"Where's Jaeger?" Jo demanded from the back of Taggart's jeep, the only vehicle that could handle her crinos form.

"That way," T-Bone pointed. "I've got to get Marie and Razor to medical. He's still got Dr. Moreau."

"We'll follow him," Jo said with a nod as T-Bone climbed into the jet's front seat and took off for Global Dynamics while the ground vehicles kept moving into the forest with Jo in the lead, her nose providing the best tracker they had.

"What about my father?" Marie demanded even as Razor restrained her from trying to grab T-Bone.

"They're following him," T-Bone said as they turned for Global Dynamic's main facility. "You're getting back to GD."

"I can last until you get him back," she pointed out.

"And how are we supposed to do that from the jet?" T-Bone countered. "This thing isn't exactly pinpoint accurate with its destruction. Look, just trust us, okay? And please stop squirming. He might not say anything, but I felt broken ribs."

"Sorry," Marie murmured, stilling and then reaching down to take Razor's hand, squeezing it tightly. "I thought you were both dead," she whispered, closing her eyes tightly as everything from the past week came crashing down on her.

"Takes more than that to kill either of us," Razor assured her. "Sorry it took so long to find you," he nuzzled her neck gently. "Anything other than the transformation happen?" he asked softly.

"Found out he can smell toxins even in his human form," she muttered. "Dad's up to something, but he couldn't tell me what. Jaeger might've been up to something... disappeared for a couple days once."

"You could say that," T-Bone shuddered. "He decided to make a point that keeping folks at home wasn't any safer than not."

"What happened?" Marie asked softly.

"You _don't_ want to know," the tabby said. "You'll find out, but it was _damned_ ugly."

"I don't think I want to imagine," she admitted with a shudder as they came in for a landing in the main hanger, a full medical team waiting for them just outside the TurboKat's landing pad.

"C'mon," Razor said, standing up painfully after she did. "We'll talk after they're done taking care of us. You're really skinny."

"It's the transformation," she told him, trying to minimize to him it before carefully climbing down into the medic's arms. "Just need a nutrient drip and plenty of meals."

"You are in the right place for that," one of the medics told her as T-Bone helped Razor get to the ground with a minimum of impact.

"What happened?" another medic asked the kats.

"I got hit hard by that monster we're hunting," Razor explained. "Pretty sure it's just cracked ribs."

"We'll get you down to radiology and make sure that's all it is," he told them, leading them off a different way.

* * *

"Where is the transmitter?" Jaeger growled furiously at Jean when they finally stopped at a place that was little more than a hole in the ground.

"What transmitter?" Jean asked pointedly, hoping he could get away with playing dumb. They'd just lost a second hideout... it wouldn't be long before Jaeger would have to give up. "You know I don't have one with me."

"Which pretty much leaves _in_ you," he growled and made a point of displaying the great claws of his crinos form. "Tell me, or I just go looking for it."

"Upper arm," Jean said. "I can remove it," he admitted, more than willing to do it rather than have Jaeger digging around for the millimeter-sized chip.

"Do it," he dug a hunting knife from his pack and handed it over.

It didn't take Jean long to isolate the chip, making the small incision and removing it, turning it over to Jaeger. He was going to have to step things up... fortunately, he hadn't lost _all_ his work since being captured.

The werewolf took the chip, crushing it contemptuously, glaring down at the old man.

"You can hardly blame me for not telling you about that," Jean pointed out.

"No, I suppose not," he granted. "Though you now have chased yourself out of the two real labs available. You'd better be able to work without all your fancy tools."

"I don't need them anymore," Jean pointed out, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small metal cylinder. "I wasn't going to leave this in the first lab when they got us out of there. I would have given it to Marie, but there wasn't time before you got back," he admitted.

"What does it do?" Jaeger regarded him evenly, suspicious but wanting it to be useful.

"I haven't had the time to synthesize a new serum to create new werewolves, not with the limited equipment and help. But this should be something that will reduce the side effects of the shifts, make them faster."

"How long does it last?" he took the vial and sniffed it.

"I haven't exactly had the opportunity to test it," Jean pointed out crisply. "I finished it just a few minutes before they found the first lab. In theory, it should work for hours, at least, possibly longer. It adjusts the change mechanism to make the strain on the system less strenuous. The only question is whether or not the original mechanism would reassert itself after a number of shifts."

"Bad doctor, working on your own project instead of mine," Jaeger growled at him right in the face.

"Working on my project means you'll be able to overcome your two greatest weakness," Jean pointed out defiantly. "And it would have meant my daughter would have been able to help me with yours much faster."

"Doesn't matter anymore," Jaeger slipped the vial into his bag and picked it up. "Come up. Time to clear the area so you have time to really work."

"I know you're down there, Jaeger!" Somebody called from up above. "Send the doctor out safe and unharmed!"

"Fucking ass," Jaeger growled, turning back to look up at Taggart's voice. "I'm going to kill that one before we leave," he rumbled and headed towards the outside. "You stay put and you might live through this."

"I'll stay right down here," Jean promised, waiting to give Jaeger a few steps away from him... then moving for the bag, grabbing the vial out of the top and pulling the injection mechanism he'd devised from his pocket. He popped the top off of it and fixed it to the needle just as Jaeger turned to see what was happening and lunged for him.

The elderly scientist twisted around, bringing the needle for the serum up between his body and Jaeger's. The werewolf couldn't stop in time; the needle sank into his flesh, his pulse pulling the liquid out and into his body rapidly.

Jean accepted the swat he got in retaliation, the pain of being tossed like a rag doll and tried to go limp to minimize the damage of impact as Jaeger roared in outrage, his form twisting into his much smaller human one.

"What... the Hell... have you done to me?" Jaeger demanded, glaring at Jean as he tried to catch his breath.

"I've made you human again Carl," Jean said simply. "Consider it the failsafe I _should_ have built into a psychopath like you."

"I'll kill -"

"Jaeger! Get out here!" Taggart demanded. "I know you're down there, and it'll hurt a lot less if I catch you than if Jo does!"

"Kill me, and when Jo gets here there's _no_ chance you'll be a werewolf again," Jean pointed out, unable to keep at least a little smugness from coming through. "You should have known better, Carl Jaeger. Never take on forced labor that's smarter than you."

"You _will_ pay for this," Jaeger snarled even as he grabbed a large combat knife from his pack and went out to try and take out Taggart at least, before he had to flee. Jo could, and probably would, kill him as long as he was stuck as a human and she wasn't.

He met Taggart coming down the stairs and moved fast, getting close enough to pull the rifle from his hands and throw it down the stairs. He stabbed for the lanky man, but Taggart darted back, hurrying up the stairs and pulling a large bowie knife off his belt.

"What's the matter, Jaeger?" He asked, moving back, getting some space so he could move around. "The big bad wolf too shy to come out and play?"

"Nah, I've just decided you don't deserve to die that fast," Jaeger sneered at him, coming out naked, combat knife in hand as he dropped into a defensive stance. "So, where's Jo?"

"At the moment, dealing with one of your traps. Punji stakes _and_ a tiger pit? I'd say it was uncommonly cruel, but I've seen your handiwork," Taggart pointed out, shifting his own stance so he could react to Jaeger's moves. He was sure Jean had managed something, but what was a better question, and how long it would last. There was no way Jaeger would take this kind of risk. They _were_ fairly evenly matched as humans, and Jaeger didn't have the advantage of body armor or a regenerative factor right now.

Taggart narrowed his eyes and lunged forward, twisting on his way down to make a calculated slash at Jaeger's knife-hand arm.

Jaeger twisted out of the way, swinging for Taggart and missing by a mile. Taggart spun to face him, a half-grin on his face.

"There's something different about you, Jaeger. Let me guess... you're all human again, aren't you?" He slashed at the shorter, stockier soldier again, taking full advantage of the length and weight of his Bowie and his own arm as Jaeger tried to get inside his reach.

With a sudden lunge and strike, Taggart caught Jaeger's knife-hand and forced the weapon from his grip, but lost his own in the tumble down the stairs they took together.

Taggart grunted as he landed on the bottom, Jaeger swinging at him, punching him across the face. Jean tried to interfere, but they both rolled out of the way of the chair the scientist tried to bring down across Jaeger's back.

They both knew this was just between the two of them, at least until Jo arrived and took out years of abuse on a very vulnerable Jaeger.

Jaeger broke away and lunged for one of the blades, even as Taggart got the other one and they closed on each other again.

"You can't beat me," Jaeger growled lowly. "This is just another test... and I _will_ pass it."

"You're losing it, mate," Taggart panted. Jaeger had a point though; he was in better shape, even if he couldn't shift. Better shape, and with better training. He had two choices... stalling until Jo could get free and heal, or ending it, quickly, before whatever had trapped him in this form could wear off.

He couldn't risk the first one.

He reached down, grabbing Jaeger's pack in his spare hand, swinging it at him as he rushed him. Jaeger batted it aside, twisting his blade to cut into Taggart. The hunter twisted, just enough to keep from being seriously hurt, but not enough to keep Jaeger from cutting into his clothes, drawing a long, shallow line along his chest. He bit his lip to keep from responding to the pain, slashing at the nude man and cutting into his side, opening up a slightly deeper gash.

"What's it like, Jaeger? Knowing you're vulnerable, more than you've been in years?" He asked. If he could keep the unbalanced psychopath on edge, he might be able to beat him. "Knowing that the _human_ your Alpha chose over you could kill you right here?"

"You won't," Jaeger focused on that one thing he had to make reality, especially now that he could feel his attempts to shift start to create the twinges again. It might be a bit yet, but he was sure he'd have his crinos back soon.

It was more than enough to embolden the Ranger and he closed on Taggart, not nearly as worried about injuries as most people, but still more careful than he usually was.

Normally, he'd have happily taken the blade to his heart, just to carve Taggart's out, knowing he only would have had to shift and be whole again... this time, he had to be a _little_ more cautious.

Still, he had a bravado that Taggart couldn't match. Where most people would have twisted out of the way of something because it might hurt, Jaeger would take the cut across his arm or leg or chest if it meant he could get a hit of his own in. Both of them were bloody and tired by the time Jaeger saw his opening, but he took it all the same. Taggart stabbed at him, and he twisted to the side, moving inside the taller man's reach and tackling him, slamming him back against the wall. The heavy Bowie hit the floor, and Jaeger brought his blade up to Taggart's throat, snarling ferociously, craving the sight of submission and fear in his rival's eyes before ripping his throat out... and only more enraged when he didn't see that reward for all his work.

Taggart was _supposed_ to be terrified. He was _supposed_ to be surrendering, begging for his life!

"What the fuck is _wrong_ with you?!?" Jaeger demanded, pressing the blade into Taggart's throat, blood welling around the tip and all the more frustrated when even that didn't seem to faze him.

"I lost my fear of death long ago," Taggart shrugged even as he got a hand around Jaeger's wrist and worked the pressure point there to try and get the blade off his throat.

Jaeger was about to say something, but caught the flick of Taggart's eyes to something behind him and ducked out of the way just in time to miss the slash of claws that would have decapitated him.

He twisted around, backing away as he saw Jo, on all fours now, snarling at him. She lunged, and he dove out of the way... loathe to admit it as he was, he couldn't deny that, right now, he was truly and honestly terrified for his life, facing down the monster he had been, the hatred and rage all his actions had inspired turned against him.

Taggart moved, grabbing Jean's hand and hauling him towards the exit as Jo lunged again, grabbing Jaeger this time and slamming him to the ground. Her jaws started to close around his head... and pain ripped through his body, the surge of agony he had long ago grown used to entirely alien again, but an agony he was grateful beyond words to be feeling.

By the time her jaws closed he'd managed to get his shoulder into her mouth instead. It hurt like hell, but he threw her off and twisted to lunge for her. One of them would not make it out of this hole, he was sure of it.

His body wasn't moving right, he couldn't help but notice. It was like the first time he'd shifted, like somehow whatever Moreau had injected him with had completely wiped his muscle-memory.

When he got out of this, he was going to snap Taggart's head off like a doll's, then make that bastard scientist think that Ethan had gotten off easy.

His train of thought was entirely derailed as Jo reached up, sinking her claws into his chest and raking down, carving deep into his chest, leaving low cuts along his sternum and opening his guts up. She twisted her hand in his entrails, pulling them out as agony streamed through his body, her jaws closing around his throat and biting down, cutting off his air as he clawed at her desperately, trying to do anything to get her off of him and let him heal.

Even before consciousness began to fade, he realized it wasn't going to work. She was taking hits on a level she'd never accepted before as she ground her jaws closed and slowly severed his head from his body.

Taggart carefully worked his way back down the stairs to the crunching of bone and tearing of flesh, but the fight sounded as if it was over.

Normally, the sight that greeted him would have made him sick. Seeing Jo, crinos form or not, ripping into Jaeger's body and devouring his major organs and limbs, was not something that most people wanted to see. 

But, given everything he'd done to her, everything he'd done to the city... it was fitting.

Within minutes even his legs and tail were down, leaving nothing but his blood splattered around the old construct when she finally turned to him and tried to focus her eyes.

"Water ... bath ... before they see me."

"There's a stream not far from here," he told her, leading the way out before anybody else could see what she'd done.


	9. Recovery Begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Jaeger dealt with, various groups deal with the fallout.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written with Karl Wolfemann

Marie knocked on the door to Jake and Chance's house a bit before sunset. She had a key, but given it was their first real evening free of the hunt and it's fallout, she wanted to give them the option to send her home.

A few moments passed before the door opened, Chance in his boxers and nothing else, his feet wet.

"Come on in," he said, stepping aside for her.

"I didn't want to interrupt your evening, if you had something planned," she smiled up at him. "Not the first evening you've had without me crying in the guest room or other demands."

"You're saying that like we didn't have any time together while you were sedated," he chuckled. "Don't worry, I'm sure Jake'll be glad to know you're feeling better. He's just in the tub now, want me to go tell him to dry off?"

"No," she giggled, grinning up at him. "How about we go join him though?"

"I'll go ask him," Chance chuckled, not wanting to spring it on Jake out of the blue tonight. Most nights, it would be fun. Tonight, everybody needed a complete lack of surprises.

Marie nodded and waited in the living room as Chance disappeared into the bedroom. Even from where she was she could hear the tones, and Jake sounded amused.

"Come on and strip down," the tabby poked his head out of the bedroom door with a grin. "I think he's still shaking his head that he might not want your company."

"Well, you guys _have_ had it for a week or so with no breaks but to go get yourselves patched up," she chuckled, starting in and leaving her coat on the couch. "I assume I'm overdressed?" She asked with a grin and a wink, starting to unbutton her blouse.

"Severely," Chance confirmed. "We'll be in the hot tub when you're suitably naked."

"I think I can handle that," she chuckled, quickly stripping down, Chance doing the same, dropping his boxers. She followed him into the bathroom, putting a bit of a sway into her step.

"So, what do you guys think?" She asked, shifting to the balls of her feet and giving them a slow swirl so they could see her entire body, only two visible breasts, but otherwise matching the picture she'd had before. The second set of nipples were there, but were hidden by her tabby brown fur.

"Very feline," Chance considered her, trying to find the words.

"Effeminate masculine," Jake supplied with a chuckle. "You look good," he reached a hand up from the swirling water. "Come in?"

"I'll take the 'look good,' part," she smirked, taking his hand and stepping in with a low, happy groan. "Oh man... gotta get one of these into my place," she decided.

"I'll spend more time there if you do," Jake kissed her cheek gently. "And you do look good. Just not like a Kat."

"Well, most girls back home look more like a human than you do now," Chance grinned sheepishly as she snuggled up against Jake on one side, Chance on his other.

"At least the feline ones," Jake teased him.

"Figures," she chuckled.

"I don't know, I like it," Jake nuzzled her. "But I like the more cat-like looks."

"You also prefer guys," she smirked, kissing his cheek. "Mmm... okay, so now that we've established I look like a guy, let's move on to the important part, hmm?"

"Which would be?" Chance half-laughed.

"Snuggling without me screaming?" She suggested wryly.

"Sounds really good," Jake slid a hand across her belly and drew her close for a kiss.

"Mmm ... for the last couple weeks, I wasn't sure I'd ever be doing this again," she murmured, kissing him again, more deeply, running her hands through his fur. She could feel the excitement her touch generated, smell it, even taste it in his mouth. She knew the water was helping her out in it, but she knew it was her too.

"You weren't the only one doubting," Chance admitted and kissed the side of her neck from behind. "It's in the past now. We're all alive and the threat is over," he added as his hands ran down her sides.

She shivered softly, shifting and turning to kiss him lightly.

"Thank God for that," she murmured. "I... seem to remember we were interrupted the last time the three of us tried doing something together?"

"True, but I'm in a very different mood," Jake moved a hand to caress a breast and kissed her again.

"So am I," she cupped his cheek and kissed him soundly as she shifted to sit on his lap, facing him so she could rub her entire body against him. "I love you," she purred deeply, rubbing against him, her fur dripping in the water as she kissed him again, hotly, exploring his mouth with a rough tongue of her own, the sensations entirely new to her.

"Love you," he groaned, his hands exploring her back and eventually pulling her close so he could rub his erection against her silky fur.

"So... want to help me break in my new body?" She asked him with a deep, seductive purr, kissing his jaw, licking it lightly.

"As long as there's no actual breaking involved," he moaned and lifted his muzzle to give her more access, his body trembling slightly in desire.

She licked and nuzzled as his neck, excited by how much he wanted her, and moved up to take him into her sex with a low, happy moan.

"No," she groaned as he slid his hands down to her hips to help guide her movements. "Mmm ... just getting used to how things work now...."

"Good," Jake shuddered, his eyes closed as he hugged her tightly while they mated.

She kissed him hotly, wrapping her arms around him.

"If you want on top, go ahead," she groaned, purring throughout as she started moving faster, milking his shaft with her body, the hyper-sensitive flesh inside tingling more than ever before from the tiny barbs along his shaft.

"Like this just fine," he shivered and tightened his grip as his balls drew close to hid body. "Next round, if you want," he offered, right on the edge.

"We'll see," she grinned, biting his shoulder lightly as she practically bounced in his lap, hungry to feel him filling her, right on the edge herself. "With me!" She mewled, tightening her body around him as they both panted, their pleasure building until Jake couldn't take it any more

He roared as his hips bucked up and his arms forced her down to pump as much seed into her body as possible.

She moaned deeply, her body clenching down around him, milking it hungrily as her sex rippled and spasmed, her teeth closed tightly around his shoulder as they came hard together. She could feel through her teeth and her entire body how much the pressure and sharpness turned him on all the more as he began to calm down.

"You know how to work him," Chance rumbled and ran a hand down her back.

"Mmm... I do my best," she purred. "You want to watch now?" She asked Jake, kissing him tenderly. "Kinda what got interrupted," she giggled.

"If you're inclined to," he shivered, openly excited by the idea.

"Mmm ... well I'm sure your tabby is," she said with a grin back at Chance, pulling off of Jake with a groan.

"Always," Chance laughed playfully and pulled her close for a headed kiss. "So just how hot and bothered to you want him to get?" he asked in a whisper.

"Mmm ... how wound up do you think we can get him?" She asked with a grin before making a show of kissing him and rubbing her body shamelessly against his broad chest and hard groin.

"Well, I did manage to get him to come over and eat Felina out while I was inside her once," he rumbled, eager to be inside her, to hear her and Jake whimper and moan.

"Mmm ... and just where were you inside her?" She asked teasingly as the two of them moved across the tub. Chance hopped up to sit on the edge as she moved to sit in his lap, both of them facing Jake.

"Up front," he chuckled softly as he spread his legs to open hers up for his fingers while the other hand played with her breasts and he kissed down the back of her neck. "Weird as it sounds, girls taking it behind doesn't do much for him."

"Mmm ... that's for guys," she purred, leaning back to kiss his cheek, moaning softly as he worked his way down to stroke her pussy. "Any time you want, big boy."

"Oh, I will," he promised with a nibble on her ear. "But a good show starts slowly, with a teaser about what's to come," he added as he spread her labia's swollen lips and slowly circled her clit with one claw while Jake's come oozed from her body.

"Oooh... Cindy has _got_ to introduce you to some of her friends, you'd get along great with 'em," she teased, looking down at Jake with a deep purr. "You think he could have a future in skin-flicks?" She asked teasingly, spreading her legs further to give him a good view, and reached back to stroke Chance's shaft lightly.

"Fur-flicks, but yeah," Jake chuckled and relaxed against the far side, his arms bracing him along the edge and his erection clearly visible in the swirling water. "We've got quite a collection already he stars in."

"Oooh... we'll have to watch some of them," she grinned, working her fingers up over Chance's barbs, her feet trailing in the water.

"We will," Jake grinned as he watched the display shamelessly, his eyes mostly on Chance's fingers and how they played her flesh.

"Mmm ... you like that, hmm?" She asked him, getting into the mental mode of teasing. "Want a closer look?" She asked, moaning softly as Chance rubbed her clit, reaching down with a beckoning gesture from her free hand before sliding both arms up and around Chance's neck to make even more of a display of herself.

"Not yet," he purred low in his chest as he watched his mate tease his lover to the point where she was trembling.

"Oh Chance," she moaned, pressing into his touch. "Inside me, please!"

He chuckled and brought his hands back to her hips. "Tuck your feet under you," he advised as he lifted her up and waited until she was positioned to lower her onto his achingly hard cock.

She did as she was told, guiding him up against her sex, her legs bent as she got a decent footing near the edge of the tub.

"Never did it like this before," she giggled slightly, looking down at Jake's rapt expression and loving it completely.

"You'll get used to it, if you happen to like that look as much as I do," Chance groaned as he slipped into her welcoming body. He didn't have to look to know it was Jake who made the incredibly excited sound with the splash of water.

"Oh I do," she groaned, tightening her body around him. "Mmm ... like how this feels too," she grinned, leaning back to kiss his chin.

"Good," he rumbled and held her up while playing with her breasts. "He really does think you're hot, you know. This is working better than with Felina."

"Mmm... good to know," she mewled softly, looking down at Jake, reaching an arm back and wrapping it around to scritch between Chance's ears. "He's _so_ big," she groaned.

"I know," Jake licked his whiskers back and slipped an arm under the water to stroke himself lightly. "And you are a very good showoff."

"I try," she grinned, moving herself up and down, helping Chance thrust, the lightly-furred lips of her sex rippling around his thick rod. "Just... oooh... lucky we don't say you can't touch yourself," she teased, purring happily.

"You didn't say anything," Jake licked his whiskers again and moved forward, across the tub, to rub her thighs. "Though you can," he breathed across her sex and grinned at the way her body twitched at the warm air.

"Oh... touch _anything_ you want," she groaned, spreading her legs further, whimpering softly as his rough tongue moved up Chance's cock to play over the swollen lips of her sex until it swirled around her clit. She felt Chance hold her a bit more tightly as sharp teeth close around her clit and Jake's tongue went to work on it while Chance continued to thrust.

"Fuck," she moaned, leaning her head forward, exposing her scruff to Chance. His sharp teeth closed around it, sending a thrill through her that not many things had matched so far... though Jake's skill tongue working with Chance's cock were coming damned close! "Close!" she gasped, her body trembling as the first uncontrollable spiral of raw pleasure raced through her body.

"Let it," Chance growled around her fur and thrust up into her hard, his balls tightening as her body worked his cock.

"Mreerow!" She yowled, her body clenching down around him, milking him hard as she came, and cried out again as he growled into her fur and shot a heavy load of seed into her body, then another, all while Jake held her legs still and continued to work her clit until she was whimpering, her body jerking with every caress of his tongue until he let go and stood up a bit more to kiss her, his fingers working around Chance's across her breasts.

"That was hot," Jake shivered, his body still heavily aroused.

"Tell me about it," she moaned, kissing him, licking her taste and Chance's off of his lips. "Mmm ... think the big boy here's up for one more round, if you help him?" She asked with a hopeful grin.

"More than that, if you keep up this kind of show," Chance chuckled, a sound that quickly morphed into a moan when Jake began to fondle his balls.

"Think you're up for both of us up front?" Jake asked a bit nervously.

"That's what I'd been thinking of," she smiled warmly, kissing him again. "Want to try and make it to the bed first, or right here?"

"Bed," Chance interrupted. "The floor's hard you know."

"Bed then," Jake chuckled and lifted himself from the whirlpool easily.

"Mmm ... works for me," she giggled, sliding off of Chance with a deep groan and hitting the fur driers, leaning against the wall, her legs a little shaky. "Don't know if I'd be able to handle you both like that anyways," she grinned back at them and welcomed the embrace and kiss Jake gave her as hot air swirled around the three of them, drying both water and sexual fluids from their fur.

"Besides, getting to bed means we won't have to move after we're worn out," Chance added with a grin.

"Always a good thing," she grinned as the blowers turned off and they headed into the bedroom. She didn't even think about resisting as Jake pulled her onto the bed and kissed her soundly, his hands running down her body, playing with her breasts before he slipped one hand down to caress between her legs.

"Mmm ... get over here, tabby," she grinned, reaching back and grabbing Chance's hand as they all climbed into the bed, both males pressing against her. "Girl could get to like this," she purred.

"So could I," Jake murmured as he rolled to his back and pulled her on top of him.

"Mmm ... maybe tomorrow night we'll try a Jake sandwich," she rumbled, trailing her fingers down his chest and kissing him hungrily.

"I like that idea," Chance grinned and kissed his way down her back while she guided Jake's cock into her body with a mutual moan that was quite enough to turn the tabby on again.

"For tonight, let's just see if we can fit both you guys in up here," she purred, raising her tail invitingly as she leaned forward against Jake's chest, giving Chance as easy access as possible given she already had one guy inside her.

"Without hurting you," Chance added as he slid his hands up her chest to caress her breasts before he removed one to help him press into the incredibly tight space left by Jake's cock.

"Too much," she corrected, biting her lip as he pressed up into her, stretching her to her limits. "Oh _fuck_ ," she groaned deeply as they both pulled out a bit, giving her more time to adjust.

"Yeah," Jake shuddered, then whimpered at having Chance's cock pressed so tightly against his inside her body when she pressed back a little more to take them further inside.

" _So_ much more better than toys," she moaned, purring madly as she took Jake's face in her hands and kissed him hungrily while her lovers carefully pushed into her until they were both as deep as the physics of their arrangement permitted.

"Nothing like the real thing," Chance panted above her even as he began to slowly pull out, setting up for a counter-rhythm with Jake.

She mewled softly, feeling their hot, throbbing lengths moving against each other inside her, feeling every tremble above and beneath her as they worked each other as well as her own body. She tried to squeeze down around them, but quickly found that she just couldn't do it like this. It left her in a position of being able to do almost nothing while the toms worked each other to the brink and carried her along with them.

Suddenly Chance's hands were off of her and his fingers intertwined with Jake's as he pinned his mate to the bed just before Jake lost control with a crying rowel and sprayed his seed into her body and over his mate's cock, slickening their movement even more.

Chance came at almost the same time, very nearly roaring above Marie as his own shaft sprayed his semen into her, both of them pressed into her body as deeply as they could be. All she could do was cling to Jake and moan, her body rippling around them, pleasure making her insides clench down as tightly as they possibly could.

"Sweet Bastet," Jake gasped as he remembered how to breathe again. "That was intense."

"Always is," Chance chuckled weakly and nuzzled Marie. "You okay?"

" _So_ much better than okay," she murmured. "Mmm ... gonna be walkin' funny for a while though," she giggled loopily.

"Not as funny as the time Jake took two guys on," Chance snickered and pulled out of her with a shuddering groan.

"Yeah, but it was a night to remember," Jake grinned up at them.

"Mmm ... I think I'll work on taking _one_ of you back there before taking _two_ of you," she smirked, pulling off of Jake reluctantly and snuggling up between them. "G'night, boys," she purred, closing her eyes happily.

"One in front and one is back is pretty good too," Chance grinned and kissed her just below her ear as he settled in with Jake on her other side.

"Yeah, it is," Jake murmured, one arm over Marie's body to touch Chance as they all relaxed into a well-deserved and badly needed sleep.

* * *

"Oh my," Jean Moreau murmured as he studied the results of Jo's blood test and began to compare them to other results of the long battery of tests he'd run in the past few days to try and understand why she could no longer shift out of crinos.

"Oh my what?" Taggart demanded, looking, quite literally, over Jean's shoulder. "Oh ... how?"

"It shouldn't be possible," Jean told him. "Her body should reject it within minutes as an invader."

"Because ... it would be the wrong species?" Taggart hazarded a guess.

"Yes," Jean nodded.

" _What_ are you two talking about?" Jo demanded from where she standing not far away.

"Umm, you're pregnant," Taggart told her.

"With, by all odds, a werewolf cub... probably why you've been locked in that form," Jean murmured. "Jaeger would almost undoubtedly be the sire, if that makes any difference in what you'll want to do."

"You said this couldn't happen!" Jo half-stammered, half snarled, too shocked to do more than stare.

" _Everything_ indicated that it couldn't," Jean said apologetically. "In all likelihood, it _couldn't_ except with another Garou... I'm sorry," he added sincerely.

"Jo," Taggart walked to her side and took her large hand. "We can make this work. Jean and I can protect her."

"I can too," the werewolf growled lowly.

"Nobody said you couldn't," Jean pointed out. "Aside from that... everything looks normal. But you'll probably be in that form for the next several months. I suspect that the regenerative factor was inherited at the very least, given what the child has already survived."

"I meant from politics," Taggart told her. "Between the three of us, we can shield her from those who would use her."

"Yes, we can," Jean agreed. "Look... it will take me some time to figure out what all has to be done. There isn't exactly a course on werewolf pre-natal care anywhere," he chuckled, trying to lighten the mood a bit. "Why don't the two of you head back home... get things sorted out now that you _can_ go to your real homes again, hmm? I'll call you when I've got an idea of what to do from here, set up time for an appointment in the afternoon."

"And I have to figure out how to be a deputy while stuck in this form," Jo muttered and dropped to all fours to pad out of the lab with Taggart at her side.

Jean watched them go, then shook his head. He'd have to check Belinda out soon now... that was _not_ something he was looking forward to at all.

"Okay, that's enough for one day," he sighed, quickly sending a text message to Stark to tell him he was going out for the afternoon. Only a few short days after being rescued, it wasn't likely to be a surprise.

That done, he headed out, making a call to Marie to meet him at the Cafe, preferably with the two kats.

A short trip later, he saw Marie and Jake waiting for him. He greeted them with a smile, still getting used to her new tabby-cat form. She'd turned out exactly how she'd wanted to, fortunately ... just months ahead of schedule, having been on treatments to accelerate her transformation to the limits of what was safe since getting back.

"Well, you're looking well," he smiled, the three of them sitting down at a table.

"Feeling a _lot_ better too, now that my teeth and claws are done," she agreed, flexing her hands to slide her new natural weapons in and out of her fingertips, still getting used to the novelty of having them. "Jake's been great about it all," she chuckled with a fond smile for the lean tom.

"I did promise," he chuckled and leaned back in the bench seat. "Besides, it was safer on the medical staff," he chuckled.

"Especially the first time the claws came out. That was _seriously_ not fun," Marie blushed.

"Chance doesn't blame you, and it wasn't your fault," Jake pointed out.

"I found out they were pretty sharp when he came to see what was wrong," Marie explained sheepishly. "Wasn't my best day."

"We'll know when somebody else decides to make the shift then," Jean chuckled. "Speaking of Chance...?"

"He's out giving somebody a _badly_ needed break from recent realities," Marie explained. "God... that guy was _sick_ ."

"Long before he became a werewolf," Jean agreed. "What happened to the Crezics ... I've managed to do a little discreet poking around in his files. Nothing proven, but there were suspicions about virtually identical attacks in Cambodia and Laos."

"Good thing he's dead then," Marie muttered, her short tail twitching behind her. "That's a line that does _not_ need to continue."

"Marie, you know it's not that likely to be passed down genetically, at least not to that extent," Jean chastised her.

Jake raised an eyebrow, privately debating whether this was a geneticist thing or if Jean knew something she didn't.

"He still didn't need to have any kids," she muttered.

"New subject ... how's Jo doing?" Jake asked.

"As well as can be expected," Jean said, very intentionally not mentioning her pregnancy. "There are some unexpected issues, but most of them are connected to being locked into her current form... she might appreciate some contact with people who don't think it's that weird," he told Jake. "Not for a while though. I imagine, at this point, she's just going to want to go home and make it hers again."

"And get some good rest," he nodded. "She needs it as much as the rest of us."

"Especially the both of you," Jean nodded. "How _are_ you and Chance doing? I understand your injuries had finally caught up with you not too long after rescuing Marie."

"Mostly internal bleeding," Jake nodded. "It wouldn't have been a big deal back home, but here it turned into quite a scare when they had to synthesize enough for both of us on such short notice," he admitted. "Chance is still grumbling about breaking one of the few ribs he had left undamaged."

"Just glad that we all got out of it okay," Marie murmured. "You weren't hurt that badly, right?" She asked her father.

"No, just thrown across the room," he chuckled. "I've taken worse around the lab. And Chien should be fine... he took a lot of punishment, but we've had the chance to reconnect everything properly. So, how's your mother handling all of this?"

"As poorly as expected," Marie muttered, everyone pausing as their meals arrived. "She's still largely in hysterics about it all, and especially that my career choice put me in danger. Jake did seem to earn some brownie points for risking his neck to save me though," she admitted.

"She _isn't_ crazy, Marie," Jean sighed, shaking his head. "In general, are the two of you getting along better?" He asked Jake.

"We have an understanding at least," he nodded. "She's still decidedly not fond of me from what I can tell, and I can't say I'm fond of her in the least, but we can be civil around each other. Chance ... he still _really_ doesn't like her and no amount of explanation is going to help that."

"Doesn't bother me at all," Marie muttered, working on her lunch. "And I _know_ she's just worried about me," she added, looking up at her father. "She just does it _all_ the wrong way."

"I know," Jean sighed. "I just wish you could settle your differences before it's too late."

"Maybe we will, but it's not close to too late right now, so we'll just have to see," Marie murmured, _very_ focused on her lunch.

"Have you been able to work on finding a way back home at all, since the last time I heard?" Jean asked Jake, knowing he needed a different topic fast. If he'd actually thought about it, he would have realized that the 'werewolf thing,' as people were referring to it, would probably have kept progress to a minimum, but he hadn't.

"Not really," Jake admitted. "It wasn't looking good even before this started. The power required to trigger the jump isn't naturally available on this world."

"Well, that's something that could change any time around Eureka," Jean chuckled, shaking his head. "I hope you don't take offense, but I think I'm not the only person who's actually glad you won't be going back immediately. And I'm not even going to ask about the Harrier," he promised. "That, I imagine, hit the bottom of the priority list after all this got going."

"Putting it mildly," Jake laughed easily. "Though it was going quite well beforehand. The intermediate upgrades passed military muster, so technically it's now the AVTOL project. Though most of it are calling it TurboStorm for now."

"And he'll be getting back to it next week, assuming I can keep him from going in that long," Marie teased lightly, turning to give him a light kiss as they heard a jet approaching overhead.

"That is Chance giving Zoe a much needed mental break," Jake grinned up, then sipped his spiced milk. "Some days I do miss the easy missions back home."

"For what it's worth, this is _not_ what our trouble is usually like," Jean reassured Jake, everybody looking up, tracking where they heard the TurboKat flying off as it passed over the Cafe.

* * *

"I'd point out your place, but it's a little hard to spot through the tree cover," Chance grinned back at Zoe as they flew through blue skies. "So, what's it like seeing Eureka from above?"

"It's great," she grinned at him before plastering her face against the cockpit again. "Thanks for talking Jake into letting me ride with you."

"Wasn't that hard," Chance chuckled. "Not after he'd locked down the controls. I'm surprised you talked your Dad into it."

"I think he trusts you, after all this," she said. "I wouldn't be surprised if Beverly made a few comments in letting me have fun, and he figures this is as safe as it gets in Eureka."

"Yeah, probably," Chance chuckled. "So, you remember to skip lunch?" He asked with a teasing tone.

"Hard to forget with your promise," she nearly squealed in anticipation. "Go for it!"

"Okay!" He called back with a grin, pulling the TurboKat into a series of maneuvers he could almost do in his sleep by now, playing canyon tag without the canyon, muscle memory taking him through the run he'd done ever since getting into a fighter back home. It brought to mind all the runs he'd made with Razor, all the surprises his partner had created for him.

He had to admit that he really didn't like their lives here, but even if he had a choice, he'd probably stay as long as Jake was happy. Even if they got home, he was sure just having his brilliance and ability acknowledge by someone in power had changed Jake; he probably wouldn't be content in the yard anymore. After a real taste of what he'd wanted his entire life, it was hard to believe that Jake wouldn't make it happen. He had already started to make notes, real plans, on how to build a weapon manufacturing business.

He wouldn't be at GD any longer than he had to be before going solo... which, really, eliminated what worries Chance still had about the place.

It wasn't home, but maybe some time they'd figure out a way to get back... to be able to see both.

Even if they couldn't, it didn't matter. What mattered was that everything was starting to work out in their lives for once... and he'd be a damned fool to give that up for MegaKat City.

"This is _awesome_ !" Zoe brought him back to the here and now.

"Tell me about it," Chance grinned back at her. "So, where you want to have lunch? Had something packed up before I came to get you, figured it'd be a good way to celebrate the city and forest being safe again ... anywhere you want."

"By the lake?" she suggested. "There's a spot not far from a clearing that has trees right by the water."

"Sounds good," he said, quickly spotting the lake and veering off to touch down in the clearing. "Here's hoping that whatever Vincent put together for us is something I can pronounce," he chuckled as the TurboKat shifted to VTOL.

"Even if you can't, it'll be good to eat," she grinned at him and watched in fascination at the landing. "I never thought I'd get to be in a VTOL."

"You wouldn't be _nearly_ so calm about it if this was the Harrier," Chance chuckled as they touched down. "That thing's a bitch. Anyways, think he said something about 'texmex,' whatever that is," he explained, sliding the cockpit open.

"I love tex-mex," she grinned and let him help her down. "It's what happens when you mix Mexican and Texas food. Great stuff, and spicy."

"That oughta work then," he chuckled, grabbing the travel case with their lunch and climbing out, heading over towards the lake. "Remember, where I grew up Texas and Mexico didn't exist," he smirked, spreading out a blanket before they sat down.

"Okay. Beans, rice, ground meat, cheese, tortillas and lots of peppers," she elaborated and followed him, more attention than usual on his hard body and tight ass. "He's served it to you before."

"Yeah, I think he has," he chuckled, looking at the food as he split it up. "Oh, and he said this was for you," he added, pulling out a large glass from the cold section and passing it over.

"Mmm?" she opened it and blinked at the contents. "Vincent knows me too well," she giggled. "Strawberry shake."

"Hey, I just said comfort food," Chance smiled. pulling out his own soda. "Had a hunch you'd need it."

"Me and half the city," Zoe murmured. "You guys picked a Hell of a time to be moving in," she half-laughed.

"You'd be surprised how normal that is for us," he chuckled and put their food out, sniffing and taste-testing along the way. "He gives quite a spread too."

"Yeah," she smiled. "That's Vincent for you... probably caribou or chupacabra or something, but as long as you don't ask it's great," she giggled. "Chance? Can I ask you something?" She asked as they both started to eat.

"Sure," he nodded, as relaxed as he got as he lay on his side and munched.

"How could you do it?" She asked him. "Live in a town where shit like this happened all the time?"

"It's all we've ever known," he sort of shrugged. "It's not usually this personal; mostly it's a few hundred people die when a monster knocks over a building. How can you stand a world where there's only one species? Or that doesn't have magic?"

"One species or no magic isn't quite the same as messes like that happening every few weeks," she murmured. "From the sound of it, I'm probably the least scarred person to come out of this whole mess, and I think I've still got appointments lined up for the next year," she chuckled grimly. "It's just ... not supposed to happen here, I guess. Hell of a thing for somebody out of LA to be saying, huh?"

"From what I've read of the place, yeah," he nodded. "Seriously, it was home. Like LA was to you. It's just what we're used to."

"Guess I was just hoping there was some way around it all," she murmured.

"It's not supposed to be that easy," Chance said softly. "You just get used to it after a while... try not to get too close. Hell of a way to live, but it's how we do it, at least how I did it."

"You are Jake are really close, though," she pointed out. 

"Yeah," he fingered the broach on his collar, his expression soft. "But he's my partner. I count on him to stay alive. Besides, that was after I got away from home. Long story," he said, shaking his head as she started to ask the question.

"Short version, I grew up somewhere that was a lot like the bad parts of LA. If a week went by without something trampling down the street and taking a few cars out with 'em, we got worried about what was going to come out the next week." He shrugged a bit. "I got out of it. The way I grew up, it doesn't really apply here. Wish I could say more to help you."

"I wish so too," she admitted and sipped her shake. "They say it doesn't usually get this bad here, but I've already seen a half dozen times where the world almost ended, literally. They were just from technology gone wrong, not a psychopath gone Eureka."

"Look on the bright side," he mused. "From the sound of it, most of the ways the world almost ends here, at least it'd be pretty quick. This guy... Hell, I don't know I'd even say he was a psychopath."

"Then what _would_ you say he was?" She asked incredulously.

"Animal that needed to be put down," Chance shrugged. "C'mon, let's eat... there is _one_ thing I can tell you about how to handle it, and that's that thinking about it too hard is never the way to do it. Y'start doing that, you work yourself in circles until the best thing to do is just ... quit fighting. Jake could tell you that one, even if he never learned it himself."

"He thinks for a living, you act for yours," Zoe smiled with a soft chuckle. "I bet you wouldn't like it if he stopped thinking all the time."

"Entire world'd grind to a stop," Chance snorted, smiling fondly. "Nah, it's a good thing that he thinks... makes up for me half the time," he winked. "I start thinking, things start to get scary."

"Sounds like my father," she giggled. "He's not nearly as dumb as he acts half the time."

"Kinda like you?" Chance raised an eyebrow.

"Had to grow up smart, even if the folks around here'd never think it," she chuckled. "Oldest girl in every one of my classes... sometimes even counting the teacher."

"Some things more important than book learning though," Chance smirked. "Tricky, that gets you places. And, if you're lucky, out of them," he grinned.

"It needs to," she grinned back. "You can't usually count on anyone else to."

"Yeah," Chance grinned. "Of course, when I start coming up with plans, people start thinking I didn't have one, so...." He chuckled. "Of course, they're not really _that_ wrong, but it does help keep people not taking me too seriously."

"Underestimation is your best friend," she nodded. "This look helps me. No one expects a punk to be smart."

"I suppose," Chance chuckled. "Especially not around here, where everybody's so straight-laced all the time. Or at least pretends to be."

"Around here, being the sheriff's daughter gets me underestimated even more than my looks," she admitted. "If your parents aren't at least double doctorates, no one takes you seriously."

"Eh, you'll show 'em," he said confidently. "Might not be sure what, but you'll show 'em," he winked.

"I already am," she grinned at him and leaned closer so she could scratch his jaw, her expression a little more interested as she moved into his personal space a bit.

"Is this what you do to most cats around here?" He asked her with a chuckle, not entirely sure what she was up to, but enjoying the scratching.

"There, behind the ears," she shifted to do just that, "and if they like you, above the tail. If they really like you, you get to rub their belly," she smiled playfully.

"Are you coming on to me?" He asked, raising an eyebrow even as he was calculating a way out if she was. The _last_ thing he needed right now was the sheriff pissed at him about bedding his underage daughter.

She paused for a moment, then nodded. "Guess I am."

"Okay... why?" He asked gently, hoping he could find a nice simple way out of it.

She looked out at the water for a bit, then back at him. "'Cause I trust you. Not many guys that qualify anymore."

"Y'know your Dad'd kill me if we started going out," Chance pointed out with a chuckle, pulling her down next to him so he could see her face more easily without having to sit back up.

The trauma there, right below the surface, made him even more wary of her intentions. No matter how sane she sounded, he seriously doubted she was in her right mind. Not completely at least.

"He'd threaten, but he wouldn't," she promised all too knowingly. "He didn't even kill my last boyfriend after he tried to kill him."

She shifted and claimed a kiss, though not as heated as he was sure she was game for, it was well past anything friendly. "Besides, I'm not looking for a boyfriend right now."

"Okay," he murmured, pulling back after the kiss. "Then what are you looking for?" He asked her. If it was just this, he could handle it. Friends he could handle... it was the worry that she wanted more.

"A reminder there are still good things to look forward to," she managed to say, clearly not used to having an advance questioned.

"That I can do," he murmured, kissing her back. "Just... not so far I'll end up in jail, okay?" He chuckled slightly.

"You won't," she said easily and claimed another kiss, this time licking her tongue along his mouth.

"Good," he chuckled, sliding his rough tongue out to run it along hers, then to lick her lips as he leaned in for another kiss.

It earned a soft sound, somewhere between ticklish and turned on, and she began to unbutton his shirt while they kissed.

"Mmm... you like Marie, or just into something new?" He asked her, running his furry fingers along her arms.

"Something new ... someone I know won't hurt me," she answered softly. "It's been a while."

"Jaeger wasn't the only time things have gone wrong since you've been here, was it?" He asked gently, nuzzling her cheek. "I _won't_ hurt you," he promised her. "Which... _does_ mean I'm only going to go so far, okay?"

"Something happens nearly every week, at least," she nodded. "I though being a US Martial was bad, but this place ... I can't even count how many times he's nearly died, and he _did_ die once that I know about." She pressed against his body, trying to hold back the tears and the fear.

Chance wrapped his arms around her, holder her close.

"It's okay," he murmured, kissing her forehead lightly. "Don't have to hold it back here."

* * *

"Please tell me somebody's head is rolling for this mess," Carter asked Stark before setting down.

"Publicly, no. However, one Colonel Straker has recently resigned, pension and benefits cut, and the word is going out that he is _dangerously_ prone to making important decisions without alerting those affected by them," Allison supplied. "He's in as much trouble as happens with this kind of incident."

"At least as much as is ever reported," Stark added with grim satisfaction.

"Good enough," Carter nodded. "It's too bad Jo did such a good job removing Jaeger's body. It would have been useful to calm folks down. Half the calls I get are folks looking for reassurance that he really is gone."

"After everything that's happened, I can't blame them," Stark admitted. "He is though. There's been one proven, confirmed fatality of a completely transformed werewolf before, and it did involve being consumed the way he was. I am quite sure she did it to make sure he was not going to come back."

"Yeah, but saying 'yes, he's gone, my deputy ate him' doesn't make them feel much better," Carter pointed out. "So, what else is going to happen because of this?"

"The three surviving males are getting their implants and fail-safes put back in," Stark told him. 

"Their mission parameters and leadership are also being put under much stricter security," Allison added. "Including very close scrutiny whenever they are loose on US soil. It's not perfect, but with their leader gone, the remaining three are much calmer."

Beverly nodded in agreement. "On the mental health end of things, it will take several months for things to have any chance at looking normal, even by local standards, but there are only a handful of cases that are truly severe and required hospitalization. Dr. Sandres and Dr. Jefferson are taking on the more moderate trauma cases while I concentrate on those that need it the most, and the few that require my clearances. Dr. Grace Alexin and Dr. Lyra Alexin are on call and will likely be coming in to assist by next week. It is bad, but we can handle it. I am more concerned by the number of people looking to move away after this. It could damage Eureka's capacity for several years."

"We're working on convincing those we can to stay, or to look at coming back once things have calmed down," Stark nodded slightly. "In several cases, I'm afraid I can't blame them at all," he admitted. "What about the Crezics?"

"Belinda is going to take months of intensive care before I will be willing to say much more than that," Beverly said softly. "It could be years before Edmond and CJ are ready to talk to anyone again. They all survived something truly horrible for being on American soil."

"For anything short of a warzone," Carter agreed with a shudder. "Glad you were the one to watch that instead of me," he admitted to Beverly. "Got enough looking around the place."

"I had to understand what had happened, and it was easier than making them live it again," Beverly shrugged slightly, though she had to admit that it had been disturbing, to say the least. "Fortunately, Zoe's doing remarkably well," she reassured him. "At least compared to the others who were witnesses of the school attacks, or even their parents. Growing up outside of Eureka, I suppose."

"Where things like this caused riots or city-wide mourning, but they still happened, even if they aren't supposed to," he nodded slightly. "Jo's doing better. She has a holo-belt so she can keep working more easily for the next few months. She's not happy about it, but she's doing okay. Irritated by the constant checkups, but that's to be expected."

"Fortunately, Jake and Chance are doing pretty well too," Stark added. "Managed to make some serious headway on the synthesized blood as well... so at least something good came out of all this. Have you got any idea how they've handled the stress so far, Beverly?" He asked, looking over at her.

"Better than anyone," she shook her head slightly. "Jake is more disturbed by events, but even he agrees with Chance that this isn't bad compared to their usual. It seems that a typical death toll for an event in MegaKat City is in the thousands. They are about as interested in talking as the Sheriff here, but I do not think they are brushing it off much for my benefit."

"So with a little time off to rest, you'd say they'll be able to come back on full time, without any serious trouble?" Stark asked.

"Yes," she nodded. "Neither one is accustomed to having any time off for any reason, so too long an enforced break will work against them and us. At least until they both acclimate to the civilian life. I would not advise to avoid calling them if something comes up even today. It would not be appreciated regardless of intent."

"Rather like dealing with deputy Lupo," Stark nodded.

"Well, if there's nothing else that needs to be covered, why don't we sort out who'll end up doing what until we get back up to full capacity?" Allison suggested, nodding back to the large stack of paperwork that still needed filing, and the list of who _wasn't_ trying to leave.


	10. Halloween Coming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Halloween brings dress up, parties and less trouble than usual for Eureka.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written with Karl Wolfemann

Chance had just brought in the mail, idly looking through a package of DVD's that had arrived for him, when he heard the phone ring.

"Got it!" He called back to Jake, grabbed the receiver. "Furlong and Clawson's place," he said, reminding himself silently not to say they were at the Salvage Yard again.

"Hey, Chance?" Marie asked cheerfully. "You and Jake up for dinner from the Café Diem, my treat?"

"Always," he chuckled. "How long until you're here?"

"About one minute," she said teasingly. "Turning onto the block now."

"Y'know, one of these days we'll have plans for the night, what'll you do then?" Chance teased back.

"Easy, eat with Dad and Chien," she said. He could almost hear the smirk. "Tell Jake, I'll be there quick."

"Hey, Jake, dinner's been figured out already!" Chance called out as he hung up. "Your girlfriend's taking us for granted," he chuckled.

"With how often our plans interfere with hers, how does this surprise you?" Jake laughed and came into the front room. "What came in?"

"Couple cartoon collections and one of those animated porn series Cindy recommended," Chance chuckled. "She swore this one actually had a plot to it, so I figured it wouldn't hurt, and we could always put it up online if we're not interested."

"Sounds like we have the evening's entertainment lined up nicely then," Jake reached up to kiss him soundly.

"Mmm... mhm," Chance purred, kissing him back. "'Least if she's interested." Just then, there was a knock at the door.

"C'mon guys, this stuff isn't gonna get any hotter!" Marie called from outside.

"You have a key!" Jake called to her and grinned teasingly up and Chance and knocked him down onto the couch for a much more heated kiss that ended any objections the tabby had.

"If you two aren't both dressed when I get in there," she muttered from the other side as she fumbled with the keys. "Hey, save some for later, Stripes," she laughed when she saw Chance unbuttoning Jake's shirt and tossed her keys at the two of them before she leaned down to pick up the food.

"There's always more for later," Jake grinned up at her.

"That something we can put on a Jake-platter?" Chance suggested as he slipped the fingers of one hand down the front of Jake's jeans just to watch the way his mate's eyes rolled back in anticipation and pleasure.

"Uhm... fur and meatball sauce _really_ don't blend," she giggled. "So probably no. Swedish meatballs, and Vincent almost glowed when I told him to get creative with them, so I didn't ask what he pulled out of the meat chest before taking it. He wrote it down, probably."

"Not like we'd know what most of those critters were," Jake claimed a long, heated kiss from his mate before they reluctantly parted. "But it does smell good."

"Maybe tomorrow we'll order sushi for the Clawson table," she teased as she opened up the containers and set them out on the table. "Unless you guys have plans for tomorrow?"

"No, but why don't we make it a picnic?" Chance suggested as he took a seat. "There's a nice spot by the river that's shallow and slow moving."

"Mmm ... and plays _very_ nicely into a certain tom's fantasies," Marie grinned at Jake, who blushed as he went to grab the plates.

"So, planning to spend the night tonight?" Chance asked her as they settled down and served up dinner.

"If I'm welcome, when was the last time I said 'no?'" She grinned, taking a deep whiff of the spicy meatballs. "Mmm ... _does_ smell good. So, what was in that box I spotted on the way in? Costume supplies?"

"Nah, just the evening's entertainment," Chance chuckled.

"What costumes are you expecting?" Jake cocked his head slightly.

"You're working on costumes for Halloween, aren't you?" She asked them, cocking her head curiously. "I mean, some folks wait until the last minute, but to keep up around Eureka you need to put a little more work into it."

The Kats looked at each other and Chance sighed in frustration.

"Back up a few steps and start at the point where you explain what 'Halloween' is," Jake suggested.

"Oh, right," she giggled, ducking her head. "Sorry, forgot you guys probably didn't have it. I could go into the deep stuff about it, but these days it's pretty much an excuse to party, run horror movies, and dress up in costumes. Kids go trick or treating, and the older ones raise some Hell in other towns, but Eureka usually sticks to trick or treating and the town party."

"Trick or treating?" Chance prompted her, openly interested in both words.

"Going around to houses in costume and collecting candy from the ones that have it out," she said with a fond smile for her own memories. "The 'trick' part comes back to the raising Hell," she giggled.

"Free candy?" Chance's brain stuck on the relevant point to him. "Folks give you candy for dressing up?"

"Oh boy, this'll be a Halloween they won't forget anytime soon," Jake shook his head. "So are there adult parties going on?"

"Well, there's rumors about one down at the Heat Wave that Cindy's usually pretty heavily involved in, but I try to avoid that one," she blushed, though it barely showed through her fur. "Some private ones though," she added with a wink.

Jake turned bright red under his fur and Chance burst out laughing.

"He didn't mean that kind of adult party," the tabby explained between gasps for breath as he tried to stop laughing.

"Uhm ... oh," Marie said, blushing even deeper under her silken brown fur. "Sorry. There _is_ a big party for the whole town down at the high school. They've got everything cleaned up and want to try and get things back to normal, so they're going to host it again this year."

"So what kind of costumes do adults wear at these PG-rated parties?" Chance asked as he continued to snicker.

"Around Eureka, or elsewhere?" She laughed, shaking her head. "Mostly, it's dressing up like a character from some movie or story or something. Actually, wanted to talk about costumes for this year ... it's kind of an unwritten tradition that couples at least try to do related costumes, so I was wondering if there was something we wanted to do for a theme?"

"I wouldn't know where to start with that," Jake shook his head.

"What about something from home?" Marie suggested. "It'd definitely be unique."

"Go on, we're not gonna mind," Chance said, recognizing the expression on Jake's face. It might be a surprise, some had even been shocking, but he'd learned to treasure the rare moments when he was likely to learn something new about his mate.

Jake flicked a glance at Chance, then shrugged. "Servants of Bastet?"

"Dunno how it'd look on me, but we're not home where somebody might gripe, so why not?"

"Why would somebody gripe back home?" Marie asked curiously. "Bastet a major person there?"

"Uhm... yeah, it'd be kinda like dressing up like priests around here," Chance said with a nod. "Bastet's the main goddess around MKC."

"Heck, I've known folks who've gone to parties dressed as a Catholic priest and an altar boy before," Marie pointed out. "Husband and wife team."

"That ... is disturbing," Jake shook his head. "At least given what keeps hitting the headlines on Yahoo."

"Okay, so what do Servants of Bastet wear?" Marie got them back onto slightly less unsettling topics, at least for her.

"Loose robes with many layers of translucent material and a fair amount of jewelry," Jake struggled to explain something he hadn't thought about in years, though he could picture it clearly.

"They don't cover much but the requirements," Chance added with a snicker.

"Can you draw it?" Marie asked.

"Easily," Jake nodded.

"Okay, that'd work then," she nodded. "They have priests and priestesses?"

"Oh yeah," Chance grinned. "They're easy to get in bed too. Real happy to fool around."

"The only part of religion that Chance likes," Jake teased him.

"You say that like you're surprised," Chance smirked. "Besides, a few other things I like... just that that's the biggest one."

"Sounds like a few religions that used to be around here," she chuckled. "So, there anything involved in getting it set up right?" She asked curiously as they ate, already thinking about what might be involved in doing it.

"Depends on whether you want to go as a priest and priestess, or maybe as Bastet and a servant of Hers?" Jake half suggested even as a slight tremor ran down his spin. "You do actually resemble Her likenesses.

"You wouldn't be uncomfortable with that?" She asked, raising an eyebrow slightly.

"Only if his outfit was too tight, I think," Chance smirked, looking at Jake ... more than a little surprised by the reaction he was having to the idea. He could see a certain appeal to making out with a goddess, at least for himself, but Jake didn't seem the type that got turned on by power, at least not that kind.

"Not any more than any other dance will," Jake murmured with a throaty sound. "But you would look incredible."

"Some people'd object to somebody in the costume of their Goddess," Marie pointed out with a smile. "So, what's the usual appearance? Have to get started now if I have to tweak anything before the party on the thirty-first."

Jake blinked at her a bit. "Umm, She is usually depicted with a bit fuller figure, frequently a couple months pregnant. Bastet is the mother goddess, a fertility figure."

"Never thought _you'd_ be interested in a pregnant fem," Chance teased.

"If the Enforcers had turned me away, Her service was the next place I was going," Jake admitted.

"Wow... never knew," Chance admitted, backing off a bit.

"Faith was never really something we've talked about," Jake said with a shrug. "It's okay."

"I could manage that," Marie murmured, thinking it over. "Not _actually_ pregnant, of course, but it'd probably only take hormonal supplements to pull it off... less trouble than what I'd been thinking of in the first place," she admitted.

"Isn't that a bit much?" Jake blinked. "I mean, it's just a party."

"Jake, this is Eureka," she giggled. "Last year, I went as Lieutenant M'ress, from the Star Trek animated series. Dad and I actually worked out the genetic shifts necessary to make one of the lab rabbits into a suitable imitation of a tribble."

"I ... don't even want to know," Jake shook his head, though he laughed too. "I'll do what I can to give you the details you need."

"Thanks," she grinned. "Just be ready to deal with me being morning sick a bit in the next few weeks," she added, thinking it over. "Might come with the hormonal supplements, not entirely sure."

"Let's try to avoid that late in pregnancy, okay?" Jake pleaded slightly. "After the transformation pains, I could _really_ stand to not go through that again."

"Okay, count me as _very_ glad that I'm not going to be going as a pregnant woman," Chance chuckled, shaking his head. "Are couples expected to be going in theme outfits?"

"Not really _expected_ to, but anybody who didn't know us _that_ well who saw Jake and I in a themed outfit and you in a different one might get the wrong idea about how close you two are," she pointed out. "There any roles other than a priest that'd fit Chance a bit better?" She asked Jake.

"Protector?" Jake suggested after digging in his memory a bit. "That's going back to _old_ times, when priests did need protection at times, but it wouldn't be hard to make out of the leathers we have in the house. Just need to add a weapon to it."

"Speaking of the party, is your mother likely to be there?" Chance asked as he started in on his meal again.

"Possibly, but we'll be able to avoid her if she is," Marie said easily. "Just about everybody in town'll be there, unless they're home handing out candy or something."

"Good, cause I picked up somewhere that she's _really_ not good with the idea of what we are," Chance nodded.

"Old fashioned monogamist," Marie agreed. "At least she hasn't snarled too much about it anywhere I've heard. She been giving you guys trouble?" She asked gently.

"Not to me, I just don't care to go _looking_ for trouble with in-laws when I can avoid it, or them," Chance explained.

"No, we get along well enough," Jake confirmed. "It's just good sense to avoid pressing buttons when you don't want to."

"Yeah, especially hers," Marie nodded slightly. "Mmm... so, after dinner, we want to look at what Chance has for that guardian costume?" She asked with a bit of a grin. "Get one of 'em out of the way, then relax for the night?"

"With him in that, relaxing won't be on the menu," Jake laughed. "Love the idea."

"It's a _type_ of relaxing," Chance protested with a grin as they finished eating. "C'mon, I'll go get the stuff out."

"You have no idea what you just got us into," Jake grinned at Marie, not the least bit concerned.

"Either that, or I _wanted_ to get into it," she winked. "Mmm ... maybe I'll manage to get you _both_ into the leathers tonight," she teased, leaning over to kiss Jake as Chance headed off into their room.

"Maybe you will," he pulled her against him, relishing in her highly feline features, and pressed her back against the table as he claimed a heated kiss. "Never get tired of you," he said softly, his body's responses backing up the claim.

"Hope that's still the case over the next few years," she purred, kissing him back, reaching down to squeeze his ass lightly to rub his obvious arousal against her a bit more. "So, what would it take to get you out of these, and into something like what Chance is going for?"

"Just ask," he licked her muzzle and throat, his heart pounding in his ears at her intoxicating scent and touch. "Be my kitten tonight?"

He could feel the shiver that ran through her and nearly moaned himself.

"How much your kitten?" She mewled softly, leaning her head back to expose her throat to him.

"Submissive little plaything," he rumbled and nipped at her throat. "Never did show you what we did last time I wore those."

"Mmm ... no, you didn't," she purred. "Though I think I'm wearing a little too much to be a proper sex kitten," she winked.

"Yes, you definitely are," he purred deeply and let her go as he turned to head for the bedroom, leaving her to her own devices. When he opened the door, he saw his leathers set out right next to the tabby.

"I guess we're going over costumes tomorrow, huh?" Chance teased.

"We can still go over yours," Jake grinned at him and claimed a kiss. "She's feeling subby to leather toms today."

"Mmm ... to one, or to both?" Chance grinned back.

"Now that depends on you," Jake grinned and ran his hand down Chance's broad chest. "And what part you want to play."

"Mmm... I already know I'll end up subbing on Halloween, knowing you two," Chance smirked, stealing a kiss. "So I think the two of us in charge tonight. Though... think we could get her in her own getup tonight?" He asked with a grin of his own as he pulled out a third set of leathers, a bright white bustier, thigh-high boots, and two pairs of panties, one of them crotchless.

"Oh, I thing we can manage," Jake chuckled and stripped down to change, eager to get back to the promises left in the dinning room.

"Good," Chance chuckled, finishing changing himself, pulling on the fingerless gloves that finished up the outfit. "So, how far have you two gone like this before?" He asked curiously.

"A little bondage, she's used a strap-on on me, she _really_ gets off on being held by the scruff," Jake summarized quickly. "Pretty vanilla so far."

"Okay, so we'll probably keep away from the whips and the blood letting," Chance chuckled, giving him a quick kiss. "Still, plenty we can do that'll be fun as all Hell."

"Oh, yeah," Jake shivered and ran his hands down Chance's exposed chest. "Start with getting her into that outfit, then see how well you can make her beg before I can't stand it anymore?"

"Mmm ... equals, or you outrank her, I outrank you?" Chance purred, kissing Jake, reaching down to fondle his crotch.

Jake licked his whiskers back, excited by both ideas. "Equals tonight, I think."

"Sounds good. Want me to get her started changing, or wait for you?" Chance asked, then chuckled and relaxed on the bed when Jake pushed him back lightly and grabbed the white leathers for Marie.

"You know I will," Jake grinned back at him before turning his attention to the Cat waiting for them in the front room.

He had to admit, he wasn't particularly surprised to see her naked, on her hands and knees, her clothes folded on the sofa.

"Mmm... where is Chance, Master?" She asked with a low, seductive purr.

"Waiting for you to get dressed," he set the leathers next to her and moved to lounge on the sofa. "We're going to see how much of a show I watch until I join the fun."

"Oooh... I think I like this game," she giggled, looking at the leathers. "And just how long have you two had these?" She asked, working her way into the panties.

"They came in last week," he chuckled softly and watched her with hungry eyes as she covered herself, only to look even more sexy.

"Mmm ... you know, I think I recognize this look," she purred, running her hands along the leather that covered her thighs, and her sides up to just beneath her breasts. "You pick this out, or did Chance?" She asked curiously.

"Chance," he chuckled. "I didn't see it until it arrived. I have to admit, he has good taste. It shows off your fur nicely."

"Thank you, Master," she purred. "Does it have a leash to go with it?" She giggled, grinning privately at the flair of fire in his eyes.

"Not yet," he rumbled, his eyes going off her only long enough to nod to Chance that they were ready.

"That should be coming in in a couple days, if I know that tone," Chance grinned broadly. "So, you're up for serving two masters tonight?"

"Oh, yes, Master Chance," Marie cooed to him, her tail twitching excitedly and her ass in the air, begging as much as inviting.

"Okay, am I the _only_ person in this house who wasn't born to sub?" Chance laughed, shaking his head a bit and patting his thigh, Marie coming over to him obediently.

"Mmm ... I think so," she giggled, nuzzling his hand.

"You two have safe words yet?" He asked her, looking over at Jake for confirmation too.

Jake shook his head. "Never got anywhere that it seemed needed."

"Think we'll change that tonight then," Chance nodded slightly. "You have any you prefer, kitten?" He asked, looking down at Marie. "Oughta have at least one for stop, one for slow, and might think about one for each of us."

Marie nodded. "Spider for stop, vinegar for slow?"

"All right," Chance nodded. "You have to use 'em, do, no matter what the two of us are doing."

"Yes, Master," she nodded.

"Good kitten," he smiled. "So, do you know what you like already, or should I just explore a bit for your Master Jake, hmm?"

"I haven't done anything I haven't liked, Master," she told him honestly. "Especially not when he's watching."

"Or touching, I expect," Chance chuckled low in his throat.

" _Definitely_ not when he's touching, Master," she grinned mischievously.

"Okay, I get the idea," he chuckled. "Mmm... well then, I guess I'll just play around with you a bit for a while, see where things go. Stand up, kitten, and turn around to face Master Jake."

Marie twitched her tail and stood smoothly to face Jake and lifted her arms to play with her long brown hair, letting it cascade down around her head and arms.

Chance pressed up behind her, his own sheath full behind his leather pants as he wrapped his arms around her possessively, running one down to stroke the swelling lips of her pussy.

"Rule for tonight," he purred into her ear, leaning down to kiss the top of her head as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "Only his cock gets to go in your pussy. My fingers can go there, but he's the only one who gets to fill you up."

"Ohh, you're _cruel_ !" Marie cried out as she rubbed her sex against his fingers as she pressed back against his powerful body.

"I do my best," he smirked, nipping at her neck lightly, rubbing her clit slowly with the heel of his hand as he spread the lips of her sex, making a tempting display for Jake. "Of course, really, it's up to _him_ how long you go without getting anything _really_ satisfying inside you, not me."

"I have patience," Jake grinned at her even as he unsnapped the leather over his crotch and began to slowly stroke himself. "And Chance has a great deal he can do to you yet."

"Oh, thank you _so_ much," Marie groaned, gasping as Chance slipped a thick finger up into her, working it around until his finger was literally glistening with her juices before adding a second finger, carefully making sure he didn't work her up _too_ much. 

Her hips rocked as her body tried to drag his fingers deeper into her with little success. Still, it was all she could do besides whimper and gasp, with her knees spread wide and her arms wrapped around the thick neck of the tom behind her.

"She makes a nice show, doesn't she?" Jake purred, his erection full and hard in his hand as he took in the scene.

"Oh she makes _such_ a nice show," Chance agreed, letting her scruff go. "Mmm... you want to record this?" He asked his mate with a grin, letting his fingers slip out of her, reaching up to squeeze her breasts.

"Oh, we are," Jake drew a slightly sharper breath in as Chance brought his tail between Marie's legs to continue to stimulate her dripping sex. "It's going to become a favorite, I think."

"I'll bet," Chance grinned, working his tail against Marie's sex as he pressed one of his glistening fingers to her lips. She caught the hint quickly, putting on her most sensuous look as she started to clean his fingers, mimicking giving his hand a blowjob, licking his claws off tenderly after finishing each one.

The toms exchanged a look and Chance grinned as he removed his fingers. "Lay down, pretty. Make a display of yourself for him."

Marie nodded and shifted forward so she could lie on her back and lifted her legs, her knees spread wide to expose her sex and ass for Jake's viewing pleasure. She reached back to caress the leather covering Chance's groin, then scooted towards him so she could nuzzle him.

"You want that, hmm?" Chance rumbled, kneeling on either side of her head. "You can use your hands to open them up, but then you have to use your mouth and face," he winked down at her.

"Yes, Master," she grinned and unsnapped the leather to expose him. Without a second thought she lifted her head to nuzzle his balls, then lick his sheath while her fingers spread her lower lips, exposing the slick opening to her sex for Jake.

"Oooh... good girl," he groaned, reaching down to stroke her throat and breasts. His shaft slid out slowly, and she raised her head, taking him into her mouth and suckling him dutifully as he moaned.

"Think you can... mmm... wait until we're both ready to get inside her?" Chance asked Jake with a low moan, his tail lashing behind him.

"I can," Jake said. "But it's so much easer to make out with you like this," he pointed out as he stood to join them, playing his fingers across her sex as he leaned forward to claim an intensely heated kiss from his mate.

"No complaints there," Chance grinned as their mouths parted, reaching up with one hand to pull Jake close for another kiss, just as hot, groaning into Jake's mouth as Marie whimpered softly, the vibrations shooting up his cock.

Chance shuddered at the pleasure of Marie's cries when Jake slammed into her body with a single motion, burying himself up to the sheath before he began to thrust hard and fast.

The two toms fucked her deeply, and she reached up, fondling her own breasts. She gave up after a few blissfully short moments, her body clenching down as she came hard around Jake, sucking on Chance's cock hard as she fought to finish him off.

He obliged her, groaning into Jake's mouth as he pumped his seed down her throat.

She whimpered when the pair began again after a brief break; she had their cocks while they made out above her. It was all she could do not to melt at the pounding she was getting as she came hard again and again in an increasingly blurry sense of time passing into a pleasure-soaked contentment.

* * *

"Not that I'm complaining, but what's the occasion?" Zoe asked a few days later, meeting Chance after school for dinner. "You said you had something to ask me about?"

"Halloween," Chance answered both questions at once. "I got bits about a couple parties, and candy."

"Ah, and you want to learn a bit more from somebody who _doesn't_ want to build a mech suit for a costume, eh?" She grinned, taking a sip of her shake. "So, what do you want to know about?"

"Free candy, trick or treating ... what are the _fun_ activities Marie wouldn't think of," he grinned at her. "She's got her good points, but she's a lot more like Jake than me."

"Her and everybody else around here," she nodded. "The free candy's usually for the younger kids... been a few years since I went out at those hours, usually waited until after dark and headed out with the other kids my age," she smiled. "Of course, you're just a _big_ kid about my age, so I suppose you'll have to do," she winked at him.

"Hey, I can pass as adult supervision," he grinned back. "Assuming anybody wants you to have one."

"Pff, barely had that back in L.A., at least that I didn't ditch fast. Not _near_ as much fun with it around," she winked. "Half the point of Halloween at my age is pulling pranks and making trouble. The 'trick' end of trick or treat," she chuckled.

"I can definitely go with that, and maybe get some free treats in the process," he purred with a mischievous glint in his eyes. "After all, I'm _very_ good at the B.E. scene, even around here."

"Well, the _idea_ is to go _just_ short of what'll make the cops _actually_ answer the calls," she chuckled. "Practical joke type things, not actually breaking the law beyond a little minor vandalism... at any rate, that's what it'll be for me," she admitted. "So, what's this about a plural for the parties? I've only heard about the one," she explained.

"There's an all-ages one at the high school and an adults only one at Heat Wave that I've heard of. Probably a couple others that are fairly private."

"Oooh, I've only heard about the one at the school," she grinned.

"You're at least three years too young for that," he pointed out.

"Two years, and when has that stopped either of us?" Zoe countered and sipped her shake, all but daring him to contradict her claim about him.

"Never," he admitted, then shook his head. "But I wasn't a cop's kid."

"Please, like he'll be anywhere _near_ there to find out," she scoffed. "He'll be home handing out candy, at the party at the school, or out putting out fires when somebody's costume starts acting screwy."

"Around here, probably mostly that last one." Chance chuckled. "Though it won't be mine, or Jake's."

"Oh? What are you guys going to go for, if you don't mind telling?" She asked with a grin.

"I'm going with a leather biker theme, Jake's going with a Priest of Bastet, and Marie as Bastet," he shook his head a bit. "Talk about a weird conversation when they worked that one out."

"Yeah, I'll bet," she nodded. "So... you're going for the biker look, maybe I should see if I can put together something that'd match?" She teased lightly.

"I won't mind," Chance smiled slightly at the thought. "You probably look pretty good in leather."

"I do," she winked. "Not that I get to wear it often. Heck, Dad doesn't even know I've _got_ the outfit; he was out of state when I got it."

"Are you going to stay blonde?" He ambled into less provocative subjects even as he privately cursed the local age of consent laws. Any sane place she'd be legal by a couple years and he wouldn't have to keep trying to ignore his own desires while he talked her down from hers. Sure he'd have been damn careful with the sheriff's daughter, but after dating the Commander's niece and second-in-command for three years, he knew he could keep it from going wrong. He just couldn't cope with the idea of being called a pedophile just for lack of waiting a couple years, even if it didn't make any sense.

"Y'want to see something else?" She asked him casually. "Been thinking of changing it for a while, I've got options."

"A shade of metallic?" he suggested with a slight cock of his head. "Or black with a couple stripes of silver."

"Mmm ... that might work," she mused. "Have to see what I end up getting to work out... could always try the black with highlights, then go for all silver if it didn't work."

"I know something about dyeing fur. I can probably help out," Chance offered easily.

"First time I've ever had a guy _willingly_ offer to help me out with that," she giggled. "If you want, sure, but I can probably handle it myself. I've done weirder already and had it work out," she winked.

"If it gets me away from Marie and her belly, I'm game," he shivered slightly. "That is just _creepy_ ."

"What about her belly?" Zoe asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Figured you'd have heard by now," he chuckled sheepishly. "Bastet is a mother-goddess to kats. Fertility, kittens, protecting the home and hearth; that kind of thing. Well, she's usually shown a few months pregnant, so Marie is using some hormone-something or other to look the part for real, instead of just padding the costume. It's _creepy_ ."

"Could be creepier," Zoe pointed out. "She could be trying to _actually_ get pregnant in time, and _just_ for that reason."

"She's not that screwed up," Chance shook his head sharply, not willing to believe anyone was that warped.

"Don't _really_ think she is," Zoe reassured him. "That's pretty far out there, even for Eureka. So, she going through the whole thing, or just looks like it?"

"Seems like the whole thing," he admitted. "Which just makes it more unsettling. I mean, she _said_ it's not for real, but you sure could have fooled me. She even smells pregnant."

"Well... y'could always ask her to get a checkup, I suppose," Zoe mused. "I mean, I'd think somebody here could tell if it was real or not."

"I know ... there's trust issues there too," he tried to explain. "We've only been together a couple months. If we can't trust her enough to believe this is fake, we're not going to last," he paused as their dinner arrived. "I'm not up for being the one who pushes that button. Jake's been though enough already. If they have a shot, I'm not going to be the one who screws it up for them."

"Makes sense," Zoe nodded. "Can't believe doing _anything_ like that for a costume though," she said, shaking her head. "Oh well. Eureka; what are you gonna do?"

"Wonder to what lengths they _won't_ go, and she's not even in a contest or anything," he took a long drink of milk.

"She's not?" Zoe asked, cocking her head. "From the sound of it, every year there's something for 'best costume.' No real prize, but it's still bragging rights."

"Yeah, but I haven't heard about her being in it. Besides, unless you count her turning into a Cat, it's not the much of a costume," he shrugged.

"Well, we'll have to see," she chuckled. "Up to her, and maybe Jake, really. So, anything else y'wanna know about with Halloween?"

"Where and when do you want to meet up?" he grinned and leaned forward a bit.

"Well that depends," she grinned back, leaning forward. "We gonna hook up later and surprise everybody, or are you gonna be my date at the party?"

"If you want a date, I'm game, as long as you understand that the most you're going to get is a kiss on the cheek."

"I understand," she nodded. "Think I might talk you into a _bit_ more once we're out having fun?" She asked hopefully.

"Zoe, I am _not_ going run afoul of that set of laws," Chance told her firmly but patiently. "I may not give a damn about most laws, or think this one was written by sane people, but that is one title I will _not_ bear."

"Uhm... not _that_ far," she said, shaking her head even as she mentally backed off from trying to get him to change his mind. "Just a bit more than the cheek is all."

"Maybe," he consented quietly and relaxed a bit. "Sorry to drill on that point, it's just too much. I was a cop. Some things ... there's too much linked to that crime for me."

"Is the law the only reason?" Zoe looked at him curiously.

"Yeah," he nodded. "By our standards, you're a solid two-three years past the age of consent. You're an adolescent. This place just doesn't distinguish between 'child' and 'adolescent' like I'm used to."

"Tell me about it," she muttered and rolled her eyes. "So when I turn eighteen, you'd be game?"

"If I'm still around, sure."

"Well, unless it's because you figured out a way home, don't see why you wouldn't be... unless you and Jake are thinking about moving?" She asked him.

"Nah, but Jake'll find a way home," Chance said without a hint of doubt. "He always figures it out."

"Mmm ... well, from the sound of it, folks'll be sorry to see you guys go if you do," she smiled. "Besides just me and Marie, of course," she winked. "You're the best excitement we've had in a while."

"I'm sure we'll provide a good deal more before we leave," he grinned at her and began to really dig into their pasta and meat creation that neither one bothered to ask about.

* * *

"So, how did it go?" Taggart asked Jo as he walked into her house later that night, taking off his coat.

"Well enough," she smiled slightly at him from where she was lounging with her holo-belt off on a specialty-build sofa. "People still don't want to piss me off, even not knowing what I look like these days."

"For what it's worth, I don't think they really wanted to piss you off _before_ you looked like that," he pointed out with a chuckle. "And you're not that scary, unless you try," he reassured her, sitting down next to her.

It earned him a skeptical look and a lick across his bald head before she caught herself and stopped the animalistic gesture. "Yeah, but you're the one who thinks wrestling lions is a fun afternoon. You never were afraid of me."

"Well, not like that anyways," he admitted with a chuckle. "Besides, I know you're not going to hurt me unless you've got a good reason for it," he added, tilting his head up to kiss her jaw lightly.

"There are people who'd call you crazy for that," she pointed out and cautiously shifted to hold him, careful not to put too much weight on him.

"There are people who'd call me crazy for a lot of things," he laughed, giving her a light squeeze. "Want to head to bed?"

"We should," she sighed and stood, unfolding her huge body and shaking herself out.

"Have you thought about the Halloween party this year any?" He asked her as he followed her to the master bedroom. He watched her powerful body move, completely nude in her home. He had to admit, no matter how much she didn't like it, he found her attractive like this as well. Especially now that she had visible breasts again, three sets no less, the first a bit fuller than the lower two.

"I'll be on duty, as always," she shrugged and crawled into bed while he undressed.

"Wasn't sure if the Sheriff would be taking that night himself," Taggart admitted, crawling in next to her, running a hand down her side. "Think you'll want me to wait up for you?"

"I won't be back till dawn," she shook her massive head a bit. "Don't worry about it."

"All right," he consented, nuzzling her neck as she turned around in, leaving him against her back so she wouldn't be too likely to roll onto him in the night. He wrapped an arm around her side, rubbing her swollen belly lightly. When no objection came, he slid his hand up a bit to fondle her lowest breasts lightly.

"You know I don't mind different," he murmured softly, reaching up a bit further, finding her second set of breasts, honestly fascinated by the differences between her body like this and what she was like as a human, personally and professionally.

He felt a tremor run through her powerful body and remembered too late that this form and anything tender were not well-linked in her mind.

"Do I even want to know how you're so okay being with a beast?"

"It's not being with a beast," he reminded her. "It's you, even if you could use a bit of a shave," he teased lightly. "You're not Jaeger, and neither am I. This side of you doesn't have to be linked to him and the others."

"It _is_ Jim," she reminded him with a sigh even as her body responded to his familiar touch and the tenderness of it. "Mmm, you _actually_ like this form?"

"It's got its good points," he murmured, kissing the back of her neck as he moved his hand up to tease the nipples on her upper most and fullest breasts, some of the few bits of bare skin she had. "I wouldn't say I like it better than you are normally, but I do like it."

"How ...."

"How what?" He asked her, squeezing her nipples lightly, pressing his face against her shoulder and his body against her back, making his arousal clear to her.

"How can you _like_ this," she shivered, determined to get an answer before she gave into the desire building from his attention and tender interest.

"Jo, to be honest you're not _that_ different like this," he pointed out, serious despite the flippant way his words could be taken. "In case you haven't noticed, I've got a thing for strong women who can take care of themselves... like this, you're different from anybody else I've ever been with, and you've still got most every one of the things I liked about you in your human form."

"I could hurt you badly," she warned him even as her tail wagged a bit and she pressed into his touch.

"So I stay where your claws and teeth can't reach me," he murmured, rubbing against her back lightly. "At least once you start to have trouble with it. I trust you enough not to try to turn around and eat me," he pointed out dryly.

"That I won't do," she promised with a low rumbled and slowly shifted to her back and slid one large hand along his back. "There are days I really don't understand you."

"Don't worry, that makes two of us sometimes," he chuckled, reaching down her furry belly to stroke the lips of her sex as he kissed her muzzle. She wasn't nearly as responsive as she was as a human, but he wasn't surprised. She wasn't nearly as comfortable like this.

He took a nipple into his mouth and continued to caress her sex, paying special attention to her labia to get her juices flowing.

He shifted between her legs as she started to respond, spreading her legs and rubbing himself against her.

"Anything you _like_ about this body?" He asked her, shifting up to her top breasts.

"Not really," she moaned and began to rub against him in return, her arousal beginning to mount to a throbbing hunger throughout her body. "Hard to think, hard to feel good."

"Let's see if we can find a few things then," he rumbled deeply, shifting to press into her with a groan as he wrapped an arm around her back, slowly working his fingers down her powerful body, searching for any new hot spots she might have. He moaned as she tightened her body cautiously around his cock, trying to give him a tight enough space to get off in without actually crushing him.

It didn't take him very long; it had been months since they'd been together last, and he soon groaned, filling her with his hot, thick seed with a groan and a grunt with each thrust.

"Mmm, roll over?" he asked her.

"Okay," she nodded slightly as he pulled out of her, rolling onto her hands and knees as he moved to mount her. Her long, coarsely furred tail thumped against his side as he pressed into her, reaching around her body to fondle her breasts as he started thrusting again.

"Mmm, feels ... good," she groaned in surprise, her body shuddering when he brought one hand in to caress her slick clit.

"Let's see if... we can both get off like this," he panted, starting to thrust, working her clit with his fingertips, enjoying the feel of her thick fur all along his body and her powerful form under his. It was like nothing he'd experienced before, and it was definitely erotic.

"Ohhh, maybe," she moaned and pressed back against him, slowly loosing herself to the touch of a lover who honestly cared.

* * *

"Have you done any research into aquatic life?" Jake asked over a seafood paella two days before Halloween. He still couldn't make up his mind whether her apparently pregnant state, including a second smaller set of breasts, was something he liked or not. It had at least settled out so it wasn't too unsettling anymore.

"Depends on the aquatic life," Marie said easily, savoring the rich food. Even if she wasn't pregnant, her body seemed more than content to go through calories like she was. "Some of it I've looked into more than others. Why?"

"Thinking about what you can do," he motioned to the impressive physical changes she'd made in herself and referencing her and her father's other creations.

Chance bit his lip to keep his mouth shut and for once managed to leave trying to convince Jake his idea was a really bad one to someone else.

"I could look into whatever I don't know already," she pointed out. "Thinking of trying to get a custom-made pet approved as a project?"

Chance winced as Jake took a breath.

"More like modification to me," he started. "An aquatic form."

Marie blinked as it sank in. A glance at Chance confirmed this wasn't something that surprised the tabby much, though he was far from thrilled by it.

"Okay... what exactly are you thinking about with it?" She asked, deciding to go along for now.

"I want to be able to breathe underwater," Jake spelled out the most basic form of it. "To swim freely in the sea without equipment."

"Okay... permanent, temporary, or shifting?" She asked him next, thinking about it.

"A terrestrial and aquatic form to shift between, or one form that can handle both conditions, I'm not that picky," he told her. "I'm not looking to make it harder than necessary to do."

"Okay... Jake? I'm honestly asking this one. Do you have _any_ idea what's going to be involved in even the simplest version of doing this?"

"I _did_ watch something like 90% of your transformation, and I've been there for the Garou kind," he told her even as Chance had to struggle again to stay out of it. "The pain's not a deterrent here. Not for this."

"I'm not talking about the pain, though it _is_ an issue," she said, shaking her head. "I'm talking about the complications and risks. What I did, what Dad did with the Garou, was with species that were all from our world. We've got common ancestors with each other, even if they're a few hundred million years back. For you... that isn't there. It'd be like trying to transplant a human heart into you, except that it's with every single cell of your body."

"She's saying it'll kill you, damnit!" Chance finally couldn't take it any more when her words didn't seem to make much of a dent. He cursed himself privately when Jake flinched and knew it wasn't from the idea.

"Not necessarily for sure, but I think that'd be the most likely outcome," she agreed quietly. "Very painfully, and just slowly enough that _we'd_ have to watch it happen. I can do some research on the idea, but unless I found that I could alter sample cells _without_ killing them, I would _never_ go beyond those samples. I could trick my body into thinking that it _should_ accept the feline DNA. Your body... I _can't_ , as far as I know. There are _way_ too many variables for me to do this willingly... _especially_ to you."

Jake nodded in silence. "New subject?" he suggested, though neither of his lovers were fooled. This had hurt. A lot.

"Jake, I _am_ willing to look into it," Marie said, reaching over to squeeze his hand. "I'm just going to want to be careful with it... before _I_ was willing to do this," she said, nodding down at her feline body, "I had _years_ of work just making sure that I could live through it. I'm not guessing at what'd happen if it went wrong," she said gently.

"I don't doubt it," he nodded in acceptance. "I was just hoping. Guess I counted on genetics being like mechanics too much."

"A little," she admitted. "I _will_ look into it... who knows? I could be all wrong," she admitted.

"Sorry I snapped," Chance said apologetically. "So... different topic?"

"I heard you have a Halloween date with Zoe Carter," Marie raised at eyebrow at the tabby.

"Oh brother," he groaned. "Is there anybody who _doesn't_ know about that?"

"Well, he hasn't been at the door yet demanding your hide, so I'd say her father," Jake pointed out with a bit of a snicker.

"Look... I'll be taking her to the party at the school, then we'll be having some fun around town, that's all," Chance said. "She just wants to call it being my date."

"Don't worry," Jake told Marie. "He won't get into trouble with _her_ . Probably plenty of trouble, but not because she's fifteen."

"Yeah... already had that conversation with her, so it's not going to be a problem," Chance nodded, wishing he felt as confident as he sounded about it. He was already sure she was going to make it hard to stick to that promise. "Besides, if she's with me, there's at least a _chance_ I can keep her from sneaking into the Heat Wave's party."

"Not much of one," Marie snickered. "Not if she's anything like most troublemakers."

"Gee, you're _so_ encouraging," Chance said, rolling his eyes. "At any rate, I'm hoping to get her home safe and sound sometime before dawn... I can do that, I'll be doing pretty well."

"Quite true," Marie said. "And if you manage to keep her out of most trouble, you'll even score points with her father."

"Been a while since I was worried about doing that," Chance admitted with a chuckle.

"Been a while since you've been worried about keeping _anybody_ out of trouble... except maybe me," Jake teased.

"Zoe's a good kid, really, just the sort who figures if nobody's getting hurt there's no reason to bother with the rules," he shrugged. "Lot like me, that way."

"It's been noticed," Jake smiled at him. "By just about everyone, I think."

"Except the handful of people who still expect her to lead a horde of Los Angeles barbarians screaming through Eureka, looting and pillaging as they go," Marie giggled, finishing her paella. "Well, I'm afraid I've got a paper to get finished up for submission tomorrow on the possibilities for the Rebirth project for disease treatment ... I'll look into what you asked about when I can," she promised Jake.

"Thanks," he nodded. "Are you likely to be done tonight?"

"Not early enough to come by again, I don't think," she said apologetically, leaning over to give him a kiss. "If I can, I will, but I do have to be in bed at a reasonable time tonight ... though I've gotta admit, cat-naps work a lot better now than they used to," she chuckled.

"Probably because you're a Cat now," Jake cracked a grin at her. "Good luck on it."

"Thanks," she grinned back, grabbing her purse and heading out.

"Things seem to be settling pretty well," Chance observed. "Now, if we just get through the next few days without anything blowing up, I'll almost believe 'em about this place being quieter than back home," he winked.

"Fewer giant monsters at least," Jake chuckled and served himself a second helping of paella. "Even if the smaller ones are nastier."

* * *

"Hi Chance," Cindy greeted the tabby cheerfully when he opened the door to his home, which now had definite shades of Henry's Garage to the locals, only it was bigger and more military-focused. "Jake around?"

"No," he shook his head. "He's working on something up at GD. What's up?"

"I was wondering if you and Jake might be interested in coming to the AO Halloween party down at the Heat Wave after you've put in your time down at the school," she said easily, coming in when he motioned for her to do so. "Marie'd be welcome too, of course, just be surprised if she wanted to."

"Me too," he nodded even as he thought about it. "So just how adult is this one going to be?"

"Most of them end with at least half the people at the party on the floor, in various combinations of drunk and well-fucked," she chuckled. "The other half are headed home, either in the same state or planning on getting there, and not _always_ with the date they arrived with. No holds barred, as long as everybody's willing."

" _I_ will be there," he grinned widely. "I'll see about dragging Jake along. I think he'd enjoy that quite a bit."

"Good," Cindy grinned back. "And I think he might too, at least if what I've heard about Marie's costume is right... something about a fertility goddess?"

"Bastet," he nodded and headed for the kitchen. "Want something to drink? She's the mother goddess for kats, protector of kittens and the home and such."

"Ah, okay, not quite the Aphrodite sort. Darn," Cindy chuckled. "And sure, whatever you've got. Have the day off, and most of the preparations are finished besides the guest list, so...."

"You have time to stay?" he raised an eyebrow and opened an upper cupboard to pull down a bottle of dark rum.

"Mmm ... if you'd like, I could even give you a preview of my costume," she winked.

"I think I'd like," he grinned. "Though I'm sure I'll look seriously overdressed in mine."

"I'm sure there are a few ways we could fix that," she grinned. "Besides, some people like to come in wearing a _heck_ of a lot... I think my favorite one in the three years I've been involved with it was when Dr. Stone wore in a harem dancer's outfit that was so heavily layered you couldn't see a thing... until after she'd given parts of it away to everybody she thought managed to earn one. Had to borrow a coat when she left," she giggled, heading out to the car for her costume.

Chance grinned and made quick work of pouring two rum and cokes before he headed to the master bedroom to put his costume on.

It wasn't long before she was at the bedroom door, wearing a costume that looked like it had come out of a strange accident between a cartoon and a fetish video. She had the tall, black, pointed hat of a witch's costume, but everything else was black latex that clung to her body, with clear PVC over her breasts and belly, and a slit between her legs that left her cleanly shaved sex and firm ass exposed. Long gloves and boots that almost shone in the light finished the ensemble, along with a small broom with a distinctly phallic tip.

"Oh, I _know_ there are ways we can make that more suitable for when the party gets going," she grinned at him from the bedroom door. "And believe it or not, this is actually street legal when I have the rest of it together," she winked.

"Right now, it looks pretty good," he rumbled as he took in the odd look. "It's that uncomfortable?"

"I've got a lining beneath the latex parts or I'd be _very_ uncomfortable," she admitted. "The rest isn't that bad, but it doesn't cling too badly either."

"Okay," he accepted the explanation, though it didn't seem to completely convince him. Still he put it out of his mind and stepped close to slid his fingers along the slit between her legs. "I do like this feature," he purred.

"Hey, I don't want to have to change in and out of it at the party," she winked, running her hands down his leather-clad sides. "Mmm... now, how would we make this a little more... convenient?" She asked, pressing him back to the bed, reaching over for her glass and taking a sip of her drink.

"The front unsnaps," he suggested with a lewd grin. "They were bought for evenings in with Jake."

"Well, that's a start right there," she grinned just as lewdly, tipping the hat back on her head and kissing him as she reached down to unsnap the crotch and fold it back, fondling his sheath and balls. "That's a _good_ start," she rumbled.

"What else needs to be exposed?" he asked as he reached up to fondle her breasts and thrust against her hand lightly.

"Needs to be? Not much," she teased, squeezing his balls. "Though you _do_ have a _very_ cute ass."

"Mmm, I think I can arrange that," he grinned, then moaned as she fingered the soft barbs on his cock.

"Good," she murmured, straddling his leg and rubbing against him. "So, have any plans for the afternoon?"

"Right now I think it's fucking you senseless, maybe even tie you up as a 'gift' for Jake when he gets home," Chance grinned up at her.

"Ooh, now there's a thought," she grinned back. "So, Stripes, think you're up to leaving me a nice dripping mess for him?"

"You know I am," he licked her mouth until the kiss deepened and he rolled her over and shifted to thrust into her with a single powerful stroke.

She wrapped her legs around him eagerly, groaning into his mouth as they lost themselves in mutual pleasure.

* * *

"Okay, explain again what I'm going to be doing?" Jake asked Zoe as she led him into the school gymnasium.

"Depends on what Spencer needs us to do," she said easily. "I'll probably be helping hang decorations. You might end up helping him set up the sound and light systems, maybe a few other things... you're the lucky one," she grinned.

"You make me nervous when you grin like that," he said dryly as they entered the huge space bustling with people.

"Ah, c'mon, my Dad's here - how much trouble can I get you into?" She asked him with a teasing grin as they made their way towards the large booth where Spencer was directing the last of the setup.

"Given what happens around _him_ , I'm not that convinced," Jake reminded her. "Hi Spencer!"

"Hey, Jake!" The young scientist called with a grin. "Good to see you here, your timing's great. You do much work with remote systems before?"

"A lot," Jake told him with a grin. "Just about everything had some level of remote control."

"Great," Spencer grinned back. "Zoe, can you help with the general setup, let me steal Jake for a bit?" He asked hopefully.

"That's why I brought him," Zoe said cheerfully, heading off to help out somewhere she could keep watching, hoping to get a sneak peek of what was to come at the party.

"Okay, I'm _hoping_ to get everything set up to run via remote this year," Spencer explained to Jake. "We've tried it before, but there's usually issues with frequency crossover, receptors being blocked, the usual sort of trouble with wireless."

"Especially when the guests are as wired as the party," Jake chuckled. "So what are we up to this year?"

"Pretty much the same," Spencer said. "I'm pretty sure I've got the problems licked this time, but I want to run it past you. Henry's helping get the backup systems all set up in case it doesn't work, or I'd ask him, but I need to make sure everything's synched up on the scanners and the remote."

"All right," Jake nodded. "Let's see what you have," he began a cursory examination of the setup.

* * *

"I hear you've been helping out with the setup for tonight," Marie said cheerfully as she and Jake changed into their costumes, Chance already on the way to pick up Zoe.

"Some," he nodded easily, his gaze mostly on her as they changed. "I used remote systems a lot back home, so I got called on to check over the party setup."

She wasn't sure exactly what to make of the look; it wasn't desire, for all it kind of was. She doubted Jake could explain it any easier.

"You looking forward to when I'm looking normal again?" She asked him, knowing that he'd been ambivalent at best to her larger belly and the other changes that had factored in.

"Yes," he admitted. "It really makes you look more like Her, but it's kind of weird too."

"It's okay," she chuckled. "I'll be glad to have my balance back again. Though I _am_ hoping to get a little private time with my priest tonight," she winked, leaning over to give him a kiss as she put the finishing touches on the outfit. "So, how do I look?"

"Very maternal," he murmured, his breath taken away by the kiss. If she'd been taller, he was sure he'd have sunk to his knees before her without thinking about it. As it stood, she was just different enough than his expectations that it felt odd and he knew it wasn't real.

"This does something to you on a level other than just looks, doesn't it?" She asked him, rubbing his back lightly as he nuzzled her and relaxed into the contact very willingly.

"You do, remember," he shuddered, breathing in her scent as he nibbled up her neck. "And yes. You're making me _think_ about my beliefs, how deeply I hold them, in a way I never have before."

"A good way, I hope?" She asked him softly. "I could probably put something else together for tonight, if you wanted me to."

"This is fine," he told her. "The rest ... I'm not so sure. I've had a lot to think about lately."

"Yeah, bet you have," she nodded. "Mmm... if you get uncomfortable at the party, lemme know, I won't mind heading home early," she smiled. "Or if, you know, you just want a little time alone."

"Or with just you," he chuckled softly and claimed a long, tender kiss. "I plan on it. It's not every day I get a chance to be with a divine look-alike."

"Mmm... c'mon, handsome, let's get going before we get sidetracked," she giggled. "We _should_ at least put in a _brief_ appearance," she winked even as they kissed again.

"True, it will be a spectacular show," he grinned and walked to her car with her arm in his.

"Of course it will; Spencer's running it," she grinned and climbed into the driver's seat. It was already slid back as far as it would go and still made a bit of a tight fit.

"It really wouldn't have been a big deal to have fixed that," Jake repeated what he and Chance had said several times already,

"Jake, in two weeks you'd have to move it back," she pointed out with a chuckle. "And while I'm sure _that_ wouldn't have been a big deal either, I'll save taking advantage of having a mechanic boyfriend for when it _is_ an issue," she teased, leaning over to kiss him as she started the car. "Or at least gonna last longer."

"That's not likely to happen anytime soon, will it?" he asked softly and leaned over to nuzzle her, his scent as much as her familiarity with his moods an indication of how little he cared about making it to the party on time.

"Not if I have anything to say about it," she murmured, turning her head to kiss him. "Mmm... I should just turn the car off for a bit, shouldn't I?" She teased lightly.

"Depends on how good a driver you are," he purred teasingly and slid a hand up to cup her upper breast. "And how much you want me to keep to my side."

She turned the key, turning off the car.

"Mmm... and if I were to point out that there's room in the backseat for two without an arm rest between us?" She grinned. "Never did get to do that in high school."

"That's a shame," he murmured with another kiss and slid a hand up her leg. "Top or bottom?"

"Your pick," she purred, reaching down to slide his skirt down a bit and fondle the top of his sheath. "Mmm... let 'em have a well-sated fertility goddess," she winked.

"Promise," he moaned into her mouth before pulling away a bit. "Should get back there."

"Before you wreck the upholstery up here," she giggled, climbing out and moving around to the back, laying back along the bench seat before he crawled back between the front seats and leaned over her, his weight largely on his arms as they kissed and enjoyed the full-body contact.

"Mmm, you have something in mind, don't you?" Marie looked up at him, her eyes shining in the dim light.

"Usually," Jake murmured and slipped down so he was mostly on the floor and lifted her full dress to nuzzle her swelling sex.

"I'm not going to complain," she grinned down at him, groaning a bit as his nose and lips moved along her dampening labia. "Did your world have anything like this?" She asked, idly curious in the part of her mind that wasn't fixed on what he was doing.

"Sex in the back seat?" he chuckled and licked her slit from bottom to top. "Oh, yeah."

"Oooh... I'd _figured_ that much," she chided, spreading her legs a bit more as he inhaled her scent, different from normal thanks to the hormones she'd been taking. "Meant something with a priest and a stand-in for Bastet," she groaned.

"Oh," he twitched his whiskers to tease her thighs. "Yes, that's around," he purred and very lightly pressed his tongue between her lower lips to taste her just a bit.

"Tease," she groaned, reaching down to rub his ears. "Mmm... you _know_ you want more than that little taste...."

"Of course, but pleasing a goddess should be done with care," he reminded her with another lick, this time that grazed the tip of her clit.

"Ooh... you _do_ realize that you could just slow down, instead of lightening up?" She chuckled, scritching him between his ears. "Besides, your goddess _does_ have somewhere to take her priest eventually."

"True," he drove his tongue all the way in this time as he licked her from one end of her slit to the other before he caught her clit between sharp front teeth and ran his tongue around it.

"Oh yeah!" She groaned, pressing his face into her sex, her juices flowing liberally down his muzzle as he alternated between aggressively pleasuring her and backing off to tease her until her body cooled a bit. "Jake ... please," she whimpered, her entire sex twitching and throbbing.

"Your wish, my lady," he whispered and stood part way to lay above her against, only this time he lifted his layered skirt to rub his full erection against her sex until he felt her come against him.

She mewled and purred, reaching up to pull him down for a hungry kiss as her body ached to feel him inside of her.

"Give your goddess what she wants," she murmured, their lips parting for a brief moment as she reached down to rub his shaft against her.

"Any time," he murmured and lifted his hips to press into her still-twitching body with a single easy thrust, only to hold still when his sheath pressed against her slick flesh and trembled. "You feel _so_ good."

"For you, always," she mewled, licking her juices from his muzzle tenderly. "Go on... mmm... gonna be _so_ hot," she purred.

His breath was already heavy when he began to thrust, his entire body trembling through each long, slow arch of movement that rubbed sensitive flesh against quivering flesh and her scent took more and more of his will to hold back.

"Go on," she moaned deeply, squeezing down around his shaft, milking him needily. "Mmm... fill me, Jake... give it to me!"

He mewed softly before thrusting forward hard once with a deep growl and shot the first stream of seed into her body to be followed by another and another until he was panting on top of her, his balls spent but his arousal still intense.

" _Oh_ yeah," she moaned, her body quivering around him tightly. "Mmm... all out?" She asked with a teasing lick to his neck.

"For a bit," he admitted with a low groan.

"Mmm ... why don't we go on our way then, let you build up a bit more for after the party," she purred, biting down on his shoulder lightly.

"All right," he pulled out of her with a shuddering moan. "Want me to clean you up?"

"Ooh... that depends," she groaned. "Does the idea of me walking around there with part of you inside me and nobody knowing do as much for you as it does for me?" She grinned up at him.

"Probably not," he chuckled and kissed her lightly. "But it sounds like you're going to enjoy having it ooze down your fur all night."

"Mhm," she purred. "So if you don't _mind_ , I'd say you don't have to clean me up," she winked. "If it gets too close to noticeable, I can always disappear into the bathroom to freshen up a bit."

"Or into an unused room and let me," he grinned and reached back to open the door so he could get back into the front seat.

"If we were going to be at the Heat Wave's party, I'd let you," she giggled. "But not at the school," she added, moving around to the driver's seat again and pulling out for the short drive there.

"Spoilsport," he chuckled and leaned over to nuzzle her.

" _You_ are randy tonight," she giggled, returning the nuzzle when she had the chance. "Save it for after we're home, and I'll make it worth your while," she grinned.

"Promise?" he asked throatily, though he did keep his hands to himself.

"Oh I promise," she purred. "You just have to promise not to let the whole 'goddess' thing go _entirely_ to my head," she winked.

"I think I can manage that," he murmured, already excited again by the prospects of the post-party fun.

"And no jacking off in the car on the way, that's just teasing," she smirked.

"You could always pull over again," he teased, though he was more than willing to take her up on it if she did.

Ultimately though, she didn't, managing to make it to the school before deciding to forget about the party entirely.

"C'mon, handsome, let's go in before you tent your skirt," she teased, giving him a kiss and getting out of the car, music already playing inside.

"If I dance with either of you, it's a lost cause," he chuckled and got out to join her in the cool evening air.

"You _do_ realize that dancing with one or the other of us is kind of the idea, right?" She teased. "Just keep an eye out for my mother; we don't need her spotting you like that."

"I'll try to sneak away with Chance if she's around," Jake said easily. "Or she'll just have to deal with the fact that her daughter really turns me on."

"Chance," she decided easily. "I'm sure it's something she can deal with, but to be honest, I'd _really_ rather not have to deal with her dealing with it."

"Hey you two, you're late," Chance chuckled as they headed in the door, handing a glass of punch over to Zoe, who was done up in leathers that went along surprisingly well with Chance's, her hair dyed black with silver stripes.

"We got tied up," Jake told him, even as the tabby's nose wrinkled and told him just how that delay had happened.

"You two," Chance sighed, shaking his head. "Well, there's plenty of fun to be had yet," he added, nodding back towards the dance. "And watch your tail," he added with a chuckle.

"So who gets the first dance?" Jake asked with a soft purr, looking his mate over hungrily.

"She's had you all night," Chance chuckled, taking Jake's hand.

"And his date's happy to watch you two," Zoe added with a wink before the two kats headed out onto the dance floor.

"You don't want to get between those two either, huh?" Marie asked Zoe with a smile, taking a glass of punch and licking at the surface for a moment before catching herself and taking a drink more normally.

"Hey, I'm a rebel, not suicidal," Zoe pointed out. "Besides, Chance made it _crystal_ clear that this was as close as I was going to get to watching him in action until I'm eighteen."

"It _is_ for the best, y'know," Marie said apologetically. "Besides, he's at least forty years older than you, isn't he?"

"Bull," she muttered. "You _really_ think it's for the best that no one is allowed to have sex before they're eighteen here?" Zoe glared at her, daring the older woman to say yes. "I know you didn't wait. Hell, some of what you did is still a felony in places."

"I _meant_ for the best in that it keeps your father from killing Chance and keeps Chance from having to worry about the law," Marie pointed out, her brown tabby fur bristling slightly. "Would I prefer if the laws were written differently? Yes, but that doesn't mean I think it ought to be ignored completely."

"Only when it applies to others," Zoe muttered and headed off. "Typical."

Marie sighed and shook her head. That had gone spectacularly well... she had to wonder if Zoe _honestly_ couldn't see a difference, or if she was just latching onto it to make a point. Maybe there was something else going on. The girl'd had a hard life on many counts and Chance seemed one of the few people she spent much time with recently. Her last boyfriend had tried to kill her father. Then there was that mess with Jaeger.

Marie focused on looking at the two kats on the dance floor and tried to push the unsettling conversation and its related issues out of her mind. It wasn't as if there was anything she could do about any of it. Probably not much _anybody_ could do about it, really. Just have to wait for the next few years to pass and see what happened during them.

She got another glass of punch as the dance ended and moved on to the next, Jake and Chance still enjoying themselves thoroughly. It was a remarkably erotic sight, especially given how well both of them were behaving in an all-ages gathering.

"They are a couple, right?" A woman's voice asked from Marie's side.

"Yeah, they are," Marie nodded, looking over at the younger black woman dressed in Cleopatra's golden death gown. She couldn't quite recognize her... she'd seen her before, but that was about it. "Marie Moreau," she said, her voice friendly as she extended her furry hand towards the other woman.

"Grace Smithson," she accepted the hand and smile with one of her own. "One's your boyfriend too?"

"Yep, Jake, the thin one," Marie nodded, looking back at them. "They're both _great_ guys though."

"Now can you do that, share him with another guy?" Grace asked quietly. "And not have someone jealous or left out?"

"Actually asking?" Marie asked her, looking over at her seriously.

"Yes, I am," she nodded slightly. "You three seem happy with it."

"It's only been a couple months," Marie admitted, looking back out to them. "For one thing, it's pretty much how they were raised. They've had other people come in and out of their relationship as long as it's been there. Beyond that... I make sure that I don't shove my way in too much, when I can help it. We're pretty much sharing Jake, for the most part," she chuckled. "And he actually likes the idea of the two of us doing things together, so that's _definitely_ not a problem. As for me... they were together first, they'll be together longest. No _way_ am I going to try and cause trouble there."

"So it's just something you all agreed on?" Grace looked between the three felines. "That easy?"

"You... might say that, I guess," Marie chuckled, thinking about it. "Like I said, they've been living like that for years, so it'd be easier to ask them how to set it up, probably. Hasn't been long enough for us to really run into serious trouble with it, but it seems to be working pretty well."

"I guess so," Grace murmured, still watching the two toms enjoying each other's company on the dance floor. "Will you dance with him tonight too?"

"Probably just as soon as somebody else decides they want the tabby," Marie smiled. "Mind if I ask why you're so curious about it?"

"I don't _get_ it," Grace admitted. "It just seems so ... weird ... to me," she tried to explain without offending.

"Thinking it's weird is better than some folks around here'd think," Marie half-laughed. "Just wondering if there was a personal reason or something. It is a little weird, I suppose, but that's only around here, and they are _so_ not from around here."

"So I've heard," Grace glanced at the rather pregnant looking she-cat. "You are, though?"

"Yeah," she chuckled. "If you follow biotech any, I'm the nut who decided to turn herself into a cat person as proof of concept. And this isn't real," she added, nodding towards her belly. "Just part of the costume."

"If this wasn't real, you three would be a shoe-in for best costumes," Grace grinned at her.

"Sadly, the shift doesn't work that fast, or I'd have come as Sawyer the Cat," Marie giggled. "Nothing like a DNA match to make the contest a lock."

"I expect so," Grace nodded. "Thank you for talking," she smiled and turned to rejoin her friends.

Marie smiled, then headed down towards the dance floor as the song started to draw to an end. Jake greeted her with a light kiss that only just kept chaste.

"Mmm... you guys were catching some friendly attention," she purred, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him back.

"How friendly?" Chance asked with a chuckle.

"Not _that_ friendly," she smirked as Zoe came out. "Think somebody here deserves a dance for waiting for you guys."

"Anytime you want," Jake murmured and nuzzled her neck. "You know how much I love your scent."

"I was talking about Zoe, but I'm not going to pass up that offer," she grinned as the next song started, Chance moving off to start dancing with the younger woman while Jake pulled her close.

He kept his hands where they should be, but she could feel and smell on him how eager he was to be with her again.

"How much do you know about Spencer's show for the night?" She asked him with a low purr as they started dancing close together.

"Most of it," he grinned and nuzzled her again. "Why?"

"Oh, just wondering how long I've got to tease you before the big climax... and heading somewhere for a few climaxes of our own," she winked.

"Over an hour," he almost whimpered. "It's cool, but just holograms."

"Then you'll just have to suffer for an hour or so," she purred, enjoying having him at her mercy for the time being. "Mmm... or convince me it's worth my while to leave early," she winked.

"What do you want?" he shivered with a low sound of desire.

"Oooh, if you're going to risk leaving it _that_ open, I'll have to think about it," she purred throatily, nuzzling his neck and let the silence draw out to the end of the song.

"C'mon, let's get something to drink," she smiled. "You could use it at least, I'm sure," she said easily, leading him across to the bar that had been set up for people who wanted something a bit stronger than the punch at the door.

"'Awn what'll ye be hav'in?" The woman dressed in a _very_ unconventional pirate's outfit asked.

"Four alarm Bloody Mary," Marie said easily. "Jake? My treat."

"Screwdriver," he decided, in the mood for a bit of citrus.

"Got ya," the woman nodded, mixing the two drinks easily and handing them over.

"Having a good time?" Marie asked Jake as they moved off to have their drinks, her fur stained a light red by her own as the lights dimmed and the holograms started.

"So far," he grinned and reached out to tap a holographic ghoul on the nose with one claw to see it scurry away in shock.

"Spencer did a damn good job this time," she said approvingly.

"The 'intelligent' ones will even talk back if you address them," Jake added with a grin and sip of his drink.

"Like the vampire flirting with Beverly?" Marie giggled, watching the scene unfolding on the edge of the dance floor.

"I think so," Jake chuckled.

"Marie, how are you -" Jessica's voice came up behind them, and Jake and Marie could both almost _hear_ when she saw the feline woman's apparently pregnant body.

"It's not real, mother," Marie tried to stop the pending explosion.

"It certainly _looks_ real," Jessica pointed out, glancing at the drink in her daughter's hand.

"Mom, I've been in a constant state of genetic flux up until two months ago," Marie explained calmly. "How could I _possibly_ be three months pregnant or more? It's not biologically possible. If you don't believe me, check back in a week or so, after my system's flushed itself out."

"Only you would think of doing something like this for a costume party," Jessica sighed, accepting it for now. She had other things to be worried about first and she focused on Jake, and the collar that was far too similar to Chance's for comfort. "You never mentioned being his lover."

"You never asked," Jake just shrugged.

"And you knew about this?" Jessica demanded, looking over at Marie.

"I also know that they're mates, not just lovers, and that Chance knows about me," Marie nodded. "Nobody's cheating on anybody between the three of us, mother."

"I thought I raised you better than that, Marie," she glared at her daughter.

"And here I thought intelligence was a cure for bigotry," Jake muttered under his breath.

"Excuse me?" Jessica glared at Jake.

"You raised me _just_ fine, Mom," Marie said, trying to distract her from Jake. "That doesn't mean I have to live my life the way you have."

"Oh, so you don't have any problem dating somebody whose boyfriend is out there dancing with a girl who isn't even sixteen?" Jessica challenged. "A girl he came in here with, mind, so he _clearly_ isn't just dancing because she asked."

"Don't you have _anything_ better to do with your life than to spy on the men in mine?" Marie demanded, her expression darkening.

"Considering your choices in them, I'm being a responsible mother," she countered. "He's a damn pedophile!" she accused in a low hiss with a wave towards Chance, only to step back when Jake's fur bristled, his ears flattened and claws unsheathed.

Marie moved bodily between them, reaching forward to take Jake's hands in hers and catch his half-formed lunge with her body. She could feel the hatred, something even more intense than he'd held against anything he'd told her of, radiate from his tightly muscled frame as he accepted her restraint, at least for now, even as he growled over her head at her mother.

"You couldn't _possibly_ be more wrong," Marie growled herself, her own ears flat as she struggled to not step out of Jake's way. About the only thing really there at the moment was protecting Jake from a murder charge. "We're going to step outside; if you want to find out how off the mark you are, why don't you go warn Zoe about the type of guy she's with. I'll be sure to call 911 for after she's done with you." 

"Just don't let Chance hear you," Jake hissed, still quite ready to kill her in front of everyone.

"Jake?" Chance came up to check what had his mate so on edge. Zoe was only a step behind him with a very worried expression on her face.

"Nothing," Jake managed to say, even as he trembled in outrage.

"C'mon, let's go out for a few minutes," Marie said, hurrying Jake and Chance towards a door before anybody else asked about what was up. "Somebody just lost the only one of us she was on speaking terms with," she explained as they left the gym and into the cool autumn air.

"It's a _damn_ good thing I don't have to work with her," Jake growled even as he tried to respect Marie's wish to calm down.

Zoe glanced between the three of them for a moment. "She insulted Chance, didn't she?"

"That's putting it mildly," Marie sighed. "You probably don't want to talk to her right now either."

"Okay, _what_ did she say?" Chance asked levelly, even though he could probably guess. "Something about me and Zoe?"

"Yeah," Marie nodded. "And the fact that she came here with you tonight. I've got nothing on her for being old fashioned and pissing people off with it."

"Come on, he's been downright obnoxious with the 'not till I'm eighteen' bit," Zoe muttered.

"Yeah, but she doesn't know that," Chance pointed out. "Relax, Jake, I can cover myself if I have to, and she's not the one who matters." 

He wrapped his strong arms around Jake until the smaller tom actually started to relax and finally buried his face against the tabby's chest.

"How can you be so damn calm about it?" Jake muttered.

"I know it's not true, and that she doesn't know what the Hell she's talking about," Chance shrugged slightly. "Besides, I already knew she was crazy," he half-laughed.

"I guess," Jake sighed into Chance's fur. "So much for trying to be nice to difficult people."

"She _might_ come to her senses later," Chance offered, giving Jake a light nuzzle. "You two going to head home, or try and head back in, in a little bit?"

"I'd like to put in a _few_ minutes, just to show her she hasn't driven us off," Marie murmured, giving Jake a light kiss. "Spin by the lake on the way home maybe?" She offered.

"All right," he consented to both of them. "The lake does sound fun," he purred softly and kissed her even as Chance pulled a small comb from his back pocket and brushed down the worst of Jake's fluff.

"Ready to head back in?" Marie asked him with a smile after a few moments of grooming that soon was more by tongue than comb.

"As I'll ever be," Jake nodded after a deep breath.

"Think we'll go start freaking people out," Chance chuckled. "Unless you want to go back in?" He asked Zoe, looking back at her.

"This town could use a good working over," she smirked. "Don't mind going for that."

"Just remember, watch out at my Dad's place; Chien's going to be out on his leash," Marie smirked back at them.

"I'm always careful," Chance winked back at her before heading to his cyclotron with Zoe.

"I think I'm scared now," Marie giggled. "C'mon. Let's go on in, grab another drink, and hit the dance floor, 'kay?"

"Okay," he nuzzled her and they walked back into absolute chaos. "What the?" he instinctively dropped into a low crouch as he assessed the situation.

"Don't - yipe!" Marie ducked as a large nerf missile flew over her head.

"Outta the way!" A young voice yelled as a medium-sized "mech suit" charged through, apparently out of the control of the kid inside it.

Jake didn't hesitate with a fluid attack meant to disable a much tougher opponent that sent the mech sprawling and disabled onto the floor.

"Thanks?" The pre-teen pilot called out, other people's costumes still acting apparently without the will of their owners.

"What the Hell's going on?" Marie asked, entirely bewildered as one of the guys 'fought' with one of the hologram monsters.

"Remote control interference," Jake guessed and made a bolt for the control panel he'd helped set up.

"Thought I had the problems all licked," Spencer said apologetically as Jake dove behind the controls with him. "Gotta get to the frequency reset, but it's below that guy," he said, nodding up towards a set of arms whirling just above the controls.

"No problem," Jake slipped around the control panel and swung his legs out to trip up the whirling dervish costume and send it crashing to the floor.

Spencer was up quick, hitting buttons and switches to make the system recalculate its frequency again. A few moments later, things were calming down, and he switched it back to the wired setup.

"Thanks," he said sheepishly. "Okay everybody! Sorry about that, things should be back to normal now."

Jake shook his head and chuckled to himself as everyone quickly went back to the celebration. "Even more blasé about it than MKC is," he said as he came up to Marie. "Dance?"

"It's Eureka," she giggled. "Nobody got vaporized, so it's all good," she said as they helped a kid to his feet.

"Sounds good to me," he smiled and kissed her lightly as they headed back to the dance floor to test his self-control's endurance against her.

They danced for a few more songs until Marie felt like she'd made her point of not being run off by her mother, then she kissed him tenderly.

"Mmm ... ready to go visit your favorite place?" She purred.

"Always," Jake nuzzled her neck and very willingly left the dance floor with her.

"Anything you want to get on the way?" She asked easily as they climbed into her car again. "Something to drink, anything like that?"

"That depends on how drunk you want me to be," he chuckled and leaned over to nuzzle her. "Vincent has made up some killer catnip-ginger vodka, but it does quite a number on me."

"Oooh, you have _got_ to share that sometime," she grinned as they pulled out. "Though for tonight, I think we can just head straight out."

"Maybe when we get home and in the tub?" he purred deep in his chest and slid his hand up her leg. "So did you get off on having my come dribbling down your legs all night?"

"Mmm ... would you think I was a horrible person if I told you I took a particularly perverse pleasure in it while I was fighting with Mom?" She giggled, pressing her leg up into his hand lightly until he slid his fingers all the way up to caress the inside of her thigh.

"Not at all," he chuckled, then sobered for a moment. "Thanks for stopping me from killing her."

"It was either stop you or join you, and I figured that stopping you would be better for all of us in the long run," she sighed. "Who knows. Maybe Chance is right and she _will_ come to her senses about this one... not gonna hold my breath though."

"Yeah, if we do it, it _really_ needs to be somewhere without witnesses," Jake almost joked. "That means far away from Eureka."

"Mmm... and waiting until after Dad's gone," she mused. "He'd figure it out and never forgive me. At any rate... she didn't _really_ deserve it, though I almost wish I _had_ thrown Zoe at her."

"Back home it would have been," Jake muttered before he tried to drag his mind away from the subject. "It's a lot more serious charge, even coming from a random person and not law enforcement."

"What _is_ the age of consent for you guys?" She asked softly, fairly sure she had a reasonably good idea.

"Puberty," he said simply. "Usually around twelve or so, but whenever a kit begins to physically mature. Zoe's so far past it we were both pretty shocked she had two years and some to go. It seems ... unhealthy ... to restrict it to so late."

"There _were_ reasons for it," she murmured even as she thought that it'd be like telling somebody that they'd just stumbled into a place where the age of consent was just shy of thirty-one, if you took it in proportion. "For what it's worth, she doesn't know any of that... and I think that's probably for the best, really. Hell, I'm surprised she _did_ throw that word out. Most folks wouldn't have."

"As long as she doesn't try to cause trouble, Chance'll let it slide, and I will eventually," Jake promised.

"If she _does_ try to cause trouble, I'll be one of the first there to smack her upside the head," she muttered. "Preferably with a baseball bat. So... what's the proper way for your Goddess to be treating a favored Priest?" She asked, hoping to change the topic to something more comfortable for them both.

"A great deal of physical affection," he purred, more than willing to change the subject. "Since she is the mother, he would be a sire for some of her kits."

"Mmm ... equals? Or some other sort of power dynamic?" She asked, reaching over to scritch his chin lightly at one of the few red lights.

"She is a goddess," Jake said very seriously, even as his eyes closed in pleasure at her touch. "Her lover is technically her son. No, not equals; he is still Her servant, no matter how favored."

"Mmm ... you are _quite_ the favored one though," she purred, turning to head out of town and towards the lake. "Would you like me to make an entrance for you?"

"Very much," he shivered at the ideas running through his mind even as he tried to keep his hands from wandering too high up her leg.

"Remember, I have to be able to drive if we're going to get out there," she teased.

"I'll behave, Mother," Jake murmured throatily.

Marie tried to keep from giggling and pointing out what sort of thing that would usually be associated with here as she made the rest of the short trip out. As she parked, she leaned over, kissing him lightly.

"Go make yourself comfortable," she purred lightly, climbing out of the car and disappearing into the trees.

Knowing what she had in mind he quickly found a spot near the shallows of the lake and tried to relax and pretend he didn't expect what was coming. When his excitement calmed a little he shifted to his knees and began with the very simple prayers he knew from his youth.

A few moments passed, and he was able to get to the point where he was at least somewhat 'in character,' praying quietly, relatively relaxed... and able to hear the soft rustle that hinted at Her approach.

He looked up, and felt his mouth go dry as he saw the young tabby walking towards him, the moonlight behind her casting a long shadow onto the lake, her gown trailing behind her now that it wasn't pulled up for the dance anymore. Her swollen belly and full breasts completed the illusion almost too well, leaving him focused on the two secondary pairs to remind himself this wasn't real.

"Bastet," he whispered and lowered his head to the ground before lifting his eyes to gaze at her again, and he didn't have to fake a trace of the adoration and desire in his eyes.

"Are you glad to see me, Child?" She asked him with a purr, approaching him and reaching down to caress his jaw, giving him a light scratch in one of his favorite places.

"Yes, Mother," he whimpered and pressed his face against her hand. "To what do I owe this honor?"

He was honestly grateful when she didn't break 'out of character' in her reply.

"I have chosen you as a sire," she purred, shifting down to crouch in front of him, kissing his forehead. "If you accept, of course?"

"I would be honored, Mother," he murmured and tipped his head up to kiss her lightly.

She took his face in her hands, deepening the kiss, sliding her hands down his cinnamon-furred body, finding the spots that made him shiver in pleasure as she explored him.

"You will be a wonderful sire and lover," she purred, their lips parting briefly before she kissed him again, reaching down to undo the knot holding his skirt on. It slid away easily, and he shifted to pull it the rest of the way off and spread it on the ground with one hand while his other cupped and caressed her full main breasts.

She moved to press him down onto the soft fabric, kissing him again and running her hands down his body before following with her mouth, trailing kisses and licks and nibbles down his jaw and neck, lavishing his nipples with attention until both of the furless nubs were hard and his body was aching for more.

She'd felt him complaint before, knew what he was like when he existed only to please, and he was beyond that now. His moans and eager body wanted inside her badly, but for now all he existed for was to indulge her in any way she desired.

She shifted, undoing the light wraps that covered her breasts and letting it fall to the ground, leaving her naked from the waist up as she moved further down, kissing the tip of his shaft before taking it between her main breasts, squeezing them down and starting to rub herself along them, moaning at the pleasant feelings that ran through her full, sensitive mounds as his barbs tickled them.

"Ohhh," Jake moaned, his eyes squeezed shut with pleasure as he soaked in the attention and reached down to caress her ears.

She purred happily, licking and kissing the tip of his shaft as pre started to leak from it, working him right to the edge with her body... then she stood up, undoing her skirt and pulling it off, laying it to the side.

"See how wet you've made me?" She asked, shifting to straddle his head, leaning forward to nuzzle his thigh, licking the inside of it slowly.

"So very wet," he murmured and nuzzled her sex before licking her from edge to edge and taking her hips in his hands to steady her as he worked.

"Oooh... that's right," she purred deeply, nuzzling his balls, reaching around with one hand to tease the tight, furless pucker of his ass, her sex tingling as his rough tongue worked along her sensitive flesh with an eagerness that had less to do with his own eventual pleasure than an honest desire to please her.

He slowly shifted from simply running his tongue along the full length of her sex to swirling it around her clit and delving deep into her body to lick her out, still tasting his own seed in her fur.

"Oh yes... so good," she moaned softly, fingering his ass, nuzzling his cock lightly, careful to try and keep him on the edge, rather than letting him get off just yet. Her own body twitched and trembled, right on the edge of an orgasm after the time they'd spent so close at the party, and the thrill of having him so worshipfully submissive to her.

She shuddered and moaned softly, her body beginning to twitch uncontrollably as he worked her clit held between delicately used sharp teeth.

She moaned again, more deeply, as her body clenched down and his muzzle was washed with her juices, most of which he lapped up as quickly as he could.

"Mmm ... I think you deserve a reward for that," she purred deeply, shifting around to press his tip up against the entrance of her body. "Don't hold back," she rumbled, kissing him hungrily as she sank back onto his rigid, barbed cock.

"Oh _yes_ ," Jake shuddered and wrapped his arms around her back as they kissed and he thrust into her still-twitching body. It was only a few thrusts before his hands moved down to her ass while his thrusts picked up with a needy groan.

"Fill me, Child," she moaned, trying to remember to keep her role as he pounded up into her, tightening her body around his cock, milking it skillfully, eager to feel him filling her up.

It was a command he was more than willing and ready to comply with. With a low moan and grunt he shot his first load of seed into her body, then more with a grunt for each squirt that wetted her insides again.

She purred, kissing him hotly as she worked him through his orgasm, letting him rest a few moments before she started to move again.

"Think you can do another of those?" She asked him with a broad grin.

"I'm sure I can," Jake grinned and licked her nose.

"Good," she rumbled, leaning up, pulling him up with her and pressing his face to her full, swollen breasts. "Nurse me, Child," she purred, knowing he could as she started to move up and down, milking his cock, his barbs working her sensitive insides.

He obediently took a nipple into his mouth, teasing it with his teeth and tongue before he began to suckle. Then he began to thrust into her movements and kneed her ass as he drank warm, sweet mother's milk.

Marie moaned deeply, kissing his head tenderly as they made love, the new sensation of having him suckle her something she hadn't honestly expected to feel as good as it did. She started moving faster, the pleasure building inside them both as their bodies wound up for another round.

* * *

"So what are we going to do tomorrow when everybody can pretty well guess who it was that did all this?" Chance asked Zoe with a grin as they drove off from the scene of their latest prank on the Cyclotron, just ahead of anybody noticing the white, fluffy 'garland' that had just been draped over every tree in the yard... and the plastic wrap they'd layered on the outside of the door for whoever came out to remove it.

"We'll get yelled at, but there really isn't anything they _can_ do," Zoe giggled and hugged him tightly.

"The reason we keep stopping _just_ short of vandalism, huh?" He asked with a chuckle, glancing up at a clock as they drove past. "'Bout time to be getting you home before your Dad comes looking for us," he said apologetically.

"Ah, come on, it's _Halloween_ . It's a night to stay out late," she countered.

"It's already after midnight," he pointed out with a chuckle, rounding the block and heading out towards the bunker she lived in. "Besides, I think we've run out of places that don't have security set to charbroil for the night."

"You have a point," she admitted and resigned herself to being dropped off at home.

"It's been a Hell of a night," he said as they headed out of town the short distance to S.A.R.A.H. "Thanks for showing me the ropes," he chuckled, putting down the kickstand to help her off.

"Maybe next year you can teach me a few new tricks for it," she winked and stretched up to kiss his cheek.

"We'll see what I can come up with," he chuckled, giving her a light kiss back. "Give your Dad my regards when he gets back," he said, noticing that the cruiser wasn't in the yard. He pulled out and headed for Heat Wave and the very different kind of party.

It didn't take him long to reach the club; he knew how to find it from just about anywhere in town by now, to be fair. He was glad to see that the party was still going full force when he walked in. He paused in the entrance long enough to make a few small adjustments to his leathers so he was 'dressed' for the occasion. The music was pulsing and people were dancing everywhere, the lights casting red and purple patterns over everything. More than a few people were up by the walls, having sex... he grinned to himself. It was like stepping into Warlords back home, with less S&M.

He could definitely stand a morning partying here.

"Hey, handsome," Cindy's greeting crooned at him as he was assessing his options. "I was starting to worry you wouldn't make it."

"Had to drop off my other date," he grinned over at her. "So, what're the rules for tonight?"

"Get consent, get some action, and try not to do too much you'll regret in the morning," she grinned. "Bar's open and if you're interested in something a little harder a few people are going around with 'party favors' the boys down in Pharmaceuticals have been dreaming up."

"Thanks for the heads up," he said in a brief moment of seriousness. "I'll stick to the alcohol."

"Fair enough," she nodded. "Don't know what they'd do for you. So, can I steal the first dance?" She asked with a grin, reaching down to rub his thigh with one gloved hand.

"Of course," he grinned and claimed a kiss. "Vertical or horizontal?"

"Start vertical, see where it goes," she rumbled deeply, kissing him back hotly before leading him out to the dance floor.

"Like there's any real doubt," he chuckled and pulled her close as they began to move to the music. Her latex outfit felt decidedly odd against his fur, but the warmth beyond it and the distinctive openness of it was very exciting.

"Just about how long it'll take," she agreed with a grin, shamelessly rubbing against him as they moved, taking advantage of the openings in their costumes to rub her sex against his sheath and stiffening shaft more than once.

Other people weren't shy about copping a feel either, whether of his ass, hers, his tail, or pretty much anything else in reach. A woman danced up next to him with a sultry look that promised all sorts of things when he was free for her. As she moved away, he noticed that she didn't seem to be in costume. It took him a moment, and a second look, to realize that her 'sports bra' and 'shorts' were painted onto her body; unless you were looking close, you wouldn't realize she was entirely naked, and might actually think she was street legal.

"Well, given _that_ , I'm not going to lack options if it's too long," he winked at Cindy and claimed a heated kiss. "Or are we just waiting for me to push you up against a wall?"

"Or to put me on my knees, if you want me to suck your little friend," she rumbled, reaching down to stroke his cock lightly.

"Mmm, that has some appeal too," he licked his whiskers back and put some pressure on her shoulder. It was more than enough to guide her down, but not enough of his strength to force her if she resisted.

Of course, she all but dropped to her knees instead, tilting her hat back so he could watch as she licked at his cock, fondling his balls as she eagerly took him into her mouth, starting to suck him off right in the middle of the dance floor.

"Do you share?" a strong male voice asked while Chance was stroking Cindy's hair.

"As long as she's willing," he grinned at the slightly shorter white man in tiger-stripe body-paint with a very realistic set of ears and tail.

Cindy grinned up at him, shifting to raise her ass up invitingly.

"Why should I only take one tiger at a time?" She teased before taking Chance back into her mouth, the human taking her hips and pressing himself into her pussy with an eager grin.

"Mmm ... picked a good time to get here," he told Chance. "She only just hit the dance floor."

"She doesn't waste any time, then," Chance grinned back at him, then moaned as the first waves of orgasmic pleasure washed through him from his cock.

"Mmm... like you're complaining," the tiger grinned before shifting his grip on her ass and starting to really pound into her, pushing her forward onto Chance's shaft, the kat's barbs working the back of her throat as he was pushed close to the edge.

Chance was only half aware of someone else behind the body-painted human as he roared and shot his first load of seed down Cindy's throat.

Cindy drank down the thick fluid eagerly as the shorter man groaned, watching the tabby come as his own boyfriend pressed into him from behind, his leopard body paint mingling a bit with the stripes on his back. Chance stepped back a bit, watching the three of them as Cindy licked his seed from her lips.

"Mmm ... have a good night," she grinned up at him before starting to press back into the two males happily.

"He will," the woman who'd seen him before said with a grin, reaching around to take Chance's chin and pull him back into a kiss. "Heya, handsome."

"Hey there," he returned her grin after the kiss ended even as he had his hands on his hips to pull her close, his cock pressed down to slid between her legs and rub against her lower lips, slick with the 'shorts' she had painted onto her. "Care to dance?"

"Want a snack first?" She asked him with a sultry grin, holding up a ripe pear and taking a bite, the juice a strange, pale blue as it trickled down her chin. "Keep you up _all_ night long," she winked.

He leaned forward and licked her chin on instinct before catching himself. "I _really_ need to stick to alcohol," he murmured. "I'm not exactly human."

"Then don't worry," she rumbled, swallowing her bite and passing the fruit off to somebody on their way by. "You won't get enough to do anything unless you actually eat it," she reassured him, still brushing her lips off on his cheek before kissing him and moving towards one of the walls.

She'd barely pressed her back against it when he lifted one of her legs and pressed into her well-used pussy with a grunt and began to pound into her with abandon.

"Oh _fuck_ , that's different!" She groaned, her eyes wide as she felt his rubbery barbs inside of her and took his face in her hands, kissing him hungrily as she milked his shaft.

"You like it, though," he rumbled, licking her face between kisses as he took her hard and fast. "Oh, yeah," he shuddered as his balls tightened a bit.

"You better... oooh... believe it!" She moaned, seed oozing out of her body around his cock as somebody moved up behind him, strong, masculine hands running down his side.

"Up for three?" A deep voice rumbled behind him. "Or should I wait for you?"

Chance felt his body respond to the touch, honestly surprised to find desire building in him and he lifted his tail and stilled a bit.

"Been a while," he warned the unknown male behind him.

"I'll be careful," he reassured Chance, turning his head back, letting him see the face of a lean black man he half-recognized from the shooting range before kissing him lightly, reaching down to stretch him out a bit before pressing his slick, latex-covered shaft up against the tight ring of muscle.

"Ohh," Chance pressed his face against the woman he was buried in and let the burning pleasure of being stretched by another male sink in until it was just pleasure and finally found something new on this world to marvel at: the feeling of a smooth cock slowly pressing inside him. "Oh yeah," he began to relax and the three worked on getting a rhythm going again.

"Damn you're tight," the man behind him groaned, his thick, hard shaft finding Chance's prostate as the tabby's balls started to twitch, his mouth occupied by the woman in front of him as her pussy started to twitch and tighten, clenching down around him as she moaned in orgasm.

"'Bout to get tighter," Chance grunted as her orgasm triggered his own and he threw his head back with a roar.

A few more thrusts into his vise-tight ass, and the muscular man against his back groaned, his shaft spurting, spraying his load into the latex sheath between him and the tabby.

"Mmm, that was good," Chance murmured as the three caught their breath, leaning against each other and the wall for support. "Weird, but good."

"I'm a bit more careful than most folks here," he chuckled. "Name's Gary Smithson," he added.

"Tanya Roberts," the young woman offered with a happy murmur as she nuzzled Chance's chest. 

"Chance Furlong," he added belatedly.

"Have one of those for me, Gary?" She asked with a grin over Chance's shoulder.

"Anytime," he laughed easily as he pulled from Chance's body and quickly disposed of the condom. "You'll have to warm me up a bit, though."

"With pleasure," she grinned, pulling off of Chance with a low groan and kneeling in front of the tall, heavily muscled black man, licking him from balls to tip before starting to go down on him eagerly, licking up the seed left on his shaft as she raised her painted ass for Chance invitingly.

"Oh yeah... love your outfit," Gary groaned, reaching down to run his fingers through her hair, pushing her down onto his shaft a bit.

"You should see my evening gown," she grinned back up at him before taking him into her mouth again.

"You are a lovely sight," Chance grinned and rubbed her ass, intent on getting off again until a laugh caught his attention and his head snapped up, his ears forward as he searched for the source of it.

He almost groaned when he spotted Zoe, about half-way down the wall, talking to one of the younger scientists. The two of them kissed, and he was _sure_ that the young man's hand was _not_ somewhere it was supposed to be. He was half-inclined to just let her be, but he knew that, if nothing else, he'd probably end up getting blamed if anything happened to her.

"Sorry you two, I have to go save somebody's hide," he reluctantly patted Tanya's ass before making a determined line for where Zoe already had her shirt off and was rubbing up against the guy kissing her shamelessly.

He was squeezing one of her breasts when Chance reached her, and he glanced over at the tabby.

"Wait your turn," he grinned, returning to making out with Zoe. Chance noticed an apple on a table nearby with a couple bites out of it... if they had the pears spiked with something, those probably were too, though he didn't have a clue what.

"Sorry," Chance grabbed the guy's shoulder and forcibly separated the pair. "This one is sixteen and going home."

"Wha?" The scientist blinked, looking between Chance and Zoe, who looked up at the tabby with an endearing pout when she wasn't staring at his exposed groin.

"C'mon, just forget about that once?" She half-begged, turning to wrap her arms around his neck, her bra-covered breasts pressed against his chest as she leaned up to kiss him, her scent more potent than anything he'd smelled from a human.

He moaned softly into her mouth, his arms wrapping around her reflexively before he caught himself and extracted himself from the very compromising situation. "Zoe, you know you're drugged, right?"

"Huh? Only had a bite of that apple," she said, nodding back towards it and reaching down to wrap a slender hand around his shaft for a brief moment until he caught her hand and moved it away and made quick work of covering himself up. "Like they'd have anything in there."

"Umm, there is," the young man who'd been making out with her said.

"See?" Chance said. "Come on, you really shouldn't be here."

"Okay, I'm drugged. But I've wanted you anyway," Zoe countered and reached out for him again.

"Zoe," Chance struggled against himself and her to stay in control. "At least let's get somewhere quiet?"

"That works," she murmured, kissing him again as he started to lead her out.

Damn, what was it that had been in that thing?

"So where are we going?" Zoe crooned at him as she got behind him on the cyclotron, her hands conspicuously low as she held on.

That was the question, wasn't it?

"Beverly's," he decided, starting the bike and reaching down to move her hands up a bit. She'd have a room free, he was sure... and maybe have something that could help Zoe get through this faster. He just hoped she didn't have a hangover in the morning... and that it'd burn out by then.

"She has some great beds," Zoe murred and rubbed up against his back.

Chance quietly prayed that Bev wasn't at the party he'd just left. He _really_ needed a place to take her where nobody'd say anything until he could explain things in the morning.

By the time they'd made it out to her place, Zoe had undone the leathers over his crotch again, and was stroking him just slowly enough to keep him from being too distracted to drive. He would have stopped her, but he knew that it would only have slowed things down too much. Unfortunately, she seemed to be getting worse as time went on.

"C'mon, we could always go back to your place," she murmured softly, kissing his neck from behind as he moved her hands and fastened his leathers again before getting off the cyclotron.

"Jake and Marie are going to be there," he said and turned to walk up the stairs to the front door with Zoe on his heels. He knocked, then tried the door to find it open and stepped inside. "Hello?"

"Think I saw her back at the club," Zoe offered 'helpfully,' following him in. "C'mon, there's a room right down here," she said, taking his hand and starting for one of the nearby bedrooms.

Chance hesitated, debating about leaving a note before the need to keep an eye on Zoe took precedence and he followed her into an opulent bedroom with a four-poster bed and thick mattress.

She turned around, pulling him back onto the bed and kissing him, pulling his hands up to her chest.

"C'mon," she murmured as he shifted to wrap his arms around her. "Please, Chance, I _need_ you right now," she whimpered needily.

"I know," he said, his voice full of regret as he struggled between the technicalities of a law he didn't believe was right, the honestly spoken desires of someone he'd normally be quite willing to bed and the consequences of her father finding out. "I'm sorry, Zoe. Law's stupid, but I can't cross that line, especially not when you're drugged. You'll feel better in the morning."

"Don't care about the morning," she murmured, reaching back to undo her bra. "I won't tell anybody," she promised him, throwing the unwanted lingerie to the floor.

"Do you care about me?" Chance asked softly, desperate to keep things from getting any further.

"Yes!" She nodded, nuzzling his neck, pressing her chest against him.

"Then please don't ask me to do something I can't live with afterwards," he nearly begged her.

She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath, reaching up to hold his hand for a long moment.

"What can you live with?" She asked, her scent driving him almost to distraction.

Chance bit his lower lip, trying to come up with something that was within his morals that she'd actually manage in her state. He lowered his head to kiss her gently. "I'd _like_ to just lay here until this drug wears off. Can we stick to just making out?"

"Can I undress the rest of the way?" She asked him. "Hold me... maybe touch me up here?" She asked, pressing her breasts into his arm.

Chance hesitated, then nodded and kissed her, while stroking her face, then shoulders and above her breasts as she undressed.

Before long, she was in nothing but her socks, laying on her back, kissing him hungrily as she reached down, fingering her sex through the thin blonde hair covering it. It released a heady scent that made him whimper into her mouth as he cupped her small breasts and ran a thick thumb across her nipple.

She moaned softly, slipping her fingers into herself, rubbing her clit with the heel of her hand.

"If you want to help down here, go ahead," she murmured between kisses, pressing into his touch and against his body hungrily.

"Want to, and won't," he managed and focused on keeping her from talking anymore by occupying her mouth with his own.

She moaned into his mouth, her body arching as she managed to get herself off, her body depressingly empty inside despite the pleasure that shot through her. Against all previous experience she still felt the intense need and continued to finger herself through the shuddering of her body and worked herself up to another. She wanted Chance ... or anyone ... inside her so badly, but knew she'd never manage to ditch Chance.

Eventually, her body was just too tired to keep going, and she passed out with the tabby a warm, safe presence against her.

* * *

Sheriff Carter groaned as he parked outside his home in the brightness after dawn and dragged himself down into the house.

"Good morning Sheriff Carter," S.A.R.A.H. greeted him with dim lights, very soft jazz and his favorite chair. "Are you hungry?"

"Starving," he agreed, sitting down with another groan. "Tell me when Zoe's up? I've gotta have a talk with her about Halloween when I'm half the law enforcement in the area she's hitting."

"Zoe has not come home yet," S.A.R.A.H. told him. "Eggs, ham and hash browns?"

"She's not home yet?" He asked, sitting up sharply. "Where is she?" He just hoped her phone or PDA were on so the house could track her.

There was a lengthy pause. "Her phone is at Beverly's."

"Beverly's?" Why would she be....

He was up and out of his chair, rushing for the stairs as his mind put together all manner of different scenarios. The best of them was that she'd met somebody from school and they'd snuck off together.

It went downhill from there quickly.

"S.A.R.A.H. door," he ordered as he grabbed his jacket and ran for the door.

"Breakfast will be ready when you get back," S.A.R.A.H. called after him as he rushed out to his jeep.

He was honestly having a hard time figuring out how to care less just then.

He dialed Beverly's on the way, hoping he could get a hold of her. When nobody picked up, he swore to himself and hit the gas, speeding to the large house on the hill.

Her car wasn't there, and neither was anyone ... no, a cyclotron was parked out front.

On the plus side, it meant that she was probably there with Chance, not with somebody else. The problem was that still meant she was probably there with Chance and she'd made little secret of her interest in the alien.

He climbed out of the car, slamming the door behind him and running into the house, finding the door open. He could _smell_ the heavy, heady scent of old sweat and sex, and he turned to follow it to the one closed door on the first floor.

He threw the door open to see them both in the bed, Chance closer to the door. Before he got a step further in it sunk in that the kat was dressed, in leathers that belonged in a fetish club, but dressed, and on top of the blankets, while Zoe was nestled under them and snuggled up against him.

"You had better have one _Hell_ of an explanation for this, Furlong," he muttered to himself as he headed out into the hall again. He took his gun out of the holster and put it on the table, only just then realizing he'd had his hand on it in the first place. That taken care of, he reached back into the room and rapped on the door, hoping that would wake them up.

A harder knock and he got a mumbled answer from Chance and some movement from inside.

"I wouldn't be half this worried about them if they'd just _told_ me that they were going to be out together," he muttered quietly. Hell, he hadn't known until somebody mentioned they'd been at the dance together, some sort of a fight with Dr. Bruener.

"Thought she had," Chance opened the door, clearly only somewhat awake. "Sorry," he added.

Then the kat's brain started to kick in when he saw who was standing in front of him. "Umm, Beverly call you?" he asked hopefully, trying to find out how much he was going to have to explain before he opened his mouth with only part of his brain awake.

"No, I got home this morning, and S.A.R.A.H. told me this was where Zoe's phone was. I don't suppose you can explain _why_ that's the case?" Carter asked, every word practically dripping with that 'and it had better be a good reason' vibe that Chance hated to have directed at him so very much.

"Yeah, I can," the kat kept half an eye behind him, still uncertain if the drug had worn off and just how much he had to still guard her from herself. "Okay, you know we danced at the high school party, and probably what we did after that around town," he admitted to a minor crime just to keep from lying, even by omission, to her father. "I dropped her off at your place around midnight, and went to the adult party at Heat Wave. I saw her there, very wired on something and making out with a guy. It was about to go a lot further when I pulled her away. I couldn't think of another safe place to keep her until it wore out of her system."

"Back to our house didn't occur to you?" Carter pointed out.

"I didn't want to take the chance of having to explain what had happened to you?" Chance admitted sheepishly.

Damn it... why did he have to look just like Carter was sure he'd looked on more than one occasion when a date had gone screwy?

"Dad?" Zoe's sleepy, disoriented voice interrupted whatever Carter was going to grill Chance with next.

"I didn't do anything to her," the tabby protested weakly, his ears low and submissive.

" _Better_ not have," Carter muttered quietly as Chance stepped back to let him in. "Zoe? What happened?"

"Wha're you doing here?" She asked him, blinking up at him blearily even as she moved under the covers to pull at least the basics of clothing on.

"Looking for you, what else?" Carter countered. "What _happened_ ?" he demanded.

"I... oh God," she murmured as she remembered just what _had_ happened. "Dad, Chance didn't do anything, heck, he was fighting _me_ half the night...."

"Only about two hours, really," the tabby quipped. "Then you passed out. I told you she'd been drugged," he answered her father's glare.

"And how did that happen?"

"Everything that wasn't liquid seemed to be," Chance pointed out.

"Oughta go bust everybody running that party," Carter muttered quietly.

" _They_ didn't do anything either," Chance pointed out, knowing he was taking a chance doing it, but not willing to hang them out to dry. "They were checking ID from anybody who looked too young."

It left the sheriff just glaring at his daughter, silently demanding an explanation he already knew the basics of.

"I expect there _is_ a reason you warned me about age of consent and her age when we first met," Chance added.

"Here," Zoe sighed, pulling the ID out of a pocket as she flipped back the blankets, now at least mostly dressed. "At least that one only says I'm eighteen," she pointed out.

"Your shirt?" Carter asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Probably back at the Heat Wave," she admitted sheepishly.

"It is," Chance nodded. "I'm probably the only one who left fully dressed," he muttered. "I was having a damn good time too."

"Sorry," Zoe sighed.

"Look... I'm going to take her home," Carter sighed, shaking his head. "We'll sort the rest of this out there," he said, looking at Zoe sternly.

"Next time I'll make sure she actually goes _inside_ the house," Chance promised quietly.

The Carters headed out to leave, and Chance looked back at the room, shaking his head. What a night.

He straightened it up a bit, amending the note he'd left for Beverly, and pulled out on the Cyclotron. He _definitely_ wanted to snuggle with Jake and Marie for a while now. A very long while.

* * *

About a week later, Zoe was riding in her father's car up to the Café Diem.

"Seeya in a few minutes, Dad," she told him as he pulled up.

"Yeah, you will," he said seriously. Technically, she was still grounded. She was just glad she'd gotten him to agree to let her do this on her own.

She headed into the Café, looking around and quickly spotting Chance. She headed over to his table, taking a seat.

"Hi... how's it going?" She asked him.

"Pretty good," he smiled at her. "I see you survived your father's wrath."

"Eh, we'll see if that's the case when I'm not grounded anymore," she said with a half-laugh. "At the rate things are going, should be just about in time for graduation. Sucks a lot more when the house can keep you from sneaking out and block all the phone lines."

"Ouch," he winced for her. "Sounds like a house Jake would build."

"If I could smuggle out blueprints, think he could find me a way to get out?" She joked. "On the plus side, he's more pissed off about the fake ID and lying about my age thing than about what happened with... y'know."

"Probably because nothing happened," Chance shook his head a bit. "If I hadn't dragged you away, I expect that boy and a few others would be in serious trouble."

"Yeah, probably," she nodded. "At any rate... I wanted to thank you, for getting me out of there and not listening to me afterwards."

"It's what friends do," he reached over to put a hand over hers. "I've had my sorry tail dragged out of a bar or party by friends once too often not to return the favor. Though I really hope I don't have to do _that_ version again."

"Here's hoping," she chuckled, turning her hand over to take his and squeeze it lightly. "Y'know though... just proves I was right about you," she smiled.

"Does your dad see it that way?" he asked hopefully.

"Well, you're rating higher than Dylan did," she offered, giving his hand another squeeze. "Think he was half-expecting to have to rescue me at first. I think he'll come around eventually."

"Good," he let out a breath of relief. "I'd hate to be barred from hanging out with you when you're allowed out again. Maybe we can go to the party together in a couple years?"

"Think I'd like that, even if it'll be when I'm almost nineteen," she chuckled. "It _did_ look like a good time... sorry you had to check out early."

"Yeah, well, it wasn't a total loss," he winked at her. "I've got dates for the next year lined up already."

"Hey, that's something," she grinned. "How are Jake and Marie doing?"

"Well, Marie doesn't look pregnant anymore, that's a serious plus," Chance chuckled. "They actually got home later than I did, somehow, so I'm guessing they had a Hell of a night."

"Wow, that is something," she grinned. "Probably for the best you didn't know that beforehand, or Dad _really_ would have freaked out."

"Yeah, probably would have," Chance chuckled. "So, going to be getting anything?"

"Nah, Dad just dropped me off so I could talk to you for a bit," she said apologetically. "I should get going before he comes in for me." She glanced at the sheriff's office across the street and stood up, leaning over to give him a light kiss on the cheek. "Thanks again, Chance. Seeya around?"

"Of course," he waved at her as she left before turning his attention back to lunch while she headed out.


	11. Dangerous Eyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pre-Thanksgiving through Valentines Day are an eventful time for the Kats and those close to them, both professionally and personally. But who invited the stalker with a jealous streak?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written with Karl Wolfemann  
> The boys love peppers and spice. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scoville_scale>

Lieutenant John Davis got on the elevator to the main prototype hanger and nodded to the short, powerfully-muscled blond woman wearing Captain bars on her flight suit that was already there.

"Lt. Davis?" she asked.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Captain Samantha Brown," she extended her hand to him. "I believe we're about to work on a project together."

"The Turbokat project, ma'am?" He asked, taking her hand and shaking it firmly. "I'm only backup so far," he pointed out with a bit of a smile.

"So am I. Backups have a way of getting flight time around here," she said before the doors slid open and they stepped into the hangar where Dr. Stark and Dr. Clawson were working on the new jet.

Both pilots both looking up at it for probably the twentieth time. It was still as impressive as ever.

"You called for us, Sir?" She asked after a few moments of listening to the two scientists talk about whatever it was they were working on at the computer console nearby. Something about an AI and control systems, but they honestly couldn't understand a lot beyond that.

"Ah, Capt. Brown, Lt. Davis," Stark nodded. "Good. I want you to work with Dr. Clawson on becoming the backup test team for the TurboKat project."

"Yes, Sir," Brown nodded sharply, though her bright blue eyes glittered in excitement.

"It'll be a pleasure, sir," Davis said, honestly meaning it. So far, nobody but Furlong got to so much as touch one of Clawson's projects until it was almost done. "Can the two of you bring me up to speed on it?"

Stark nodded to Jake, giving the creator his dues for the first tour.

"How familiar are you with the overall specs of the project?" Jake started as he moved towards his prized local creation.

"VTOL, supersonic, low-orbital capable, and supposed to be able to outmaneuver anything out there. I've heard it's based on something that maybe ten pilots or so could fly," he said, respect clear in his voice even though he wasn't entirely sure he believed it.

"I heard something about it being an AI," Brown added.

"Not too far off," Jake nodded seriously. "Only one's been able to handle it in a serious dogfight, three others that could against ground targets and just about anyone could get her from point A to point B. This is a less capable but more producible version of the TurboKats I've built for Chance. Since you're test pilots, you've flown some computer-control intensive jets already, I expect?"

"Yes, Sir," Brown nodded.

"Hell, I've flown a couple they told me to take off, touch down, and take a nap in between," Davis chuckled. "I take it that this one will be pretty heavily under the computer's control?"

"Yes, though not that kind of control," Jake nodded. "What enables the jet to do everything it does it an extremely complex computer system that calculates how to do what you want it to. The autopilot at this stage is fairly basic. The main point is that you understand you aren't actually moving anything with your controls. You're telling the computer what you want to do and it figures out how to get it done."

"O...kay," Davis said, sounding a little more dubious now. "And how does it know that, with more complicated maneuvers?"

"That's where it gets more advanced," Jake told him honestly. "Chance is used to it, so I asked him to take you up in the TurboKat to get you used to just what she can do, but the bottom line here is you're going to have to trust me that the systems can do what I say they can."

"I'm going to have to see some of it before that," Davis admitted. "Nothing against you, Doctor, but... well, it's my neck up there, after all."

"That's the other reason Chance does all the flying," Jake winked at him. "He knows what kind of work I do."

"Is there anything in particular I should know about before trying to sort out a time to see what this Turbokat is up to?" Brown asked him.

"It was designed for fighting giant monsters every week in mind," Jake said seriously. "We didn't have conventional wars the way you do. She's fast, touchy, tough as nails and can be extremely ill-tempered on a bad day. That's true of the production model as well as the original. The production model just doesn't have as many bad days."

"Bad days ...?" Davis raised an eyebrow a bit.

"Both systems are bordering on full AIs," Jake said simply. "The original actually is. When you get to that level of complex, the jet does kind of have to like you. Talk nice to her, be proud of her, treat her the way you would a partner and she'll take good care of you."

"Mhm...."

"I helped design the AI," Dr. Stark added. "And, at this point, it's still developing, so those problems shouldn't be too pronounced yet."

"Agreed, but it rarely hurts to be nice to them. Even the early TurboKats I built tended to work better when we were nice to her," Jake added.

"Right," Davis nodded. "Nice to the jet I can handle. So... how smart is she? Or... he?" He asked, looking up at the prototype.

"She, I think," Jake admitted. "I've never designed one that wasn't."

"We believe she is somewhere between a border collie and a small parrot," Stark added, knowing Jake didn't have a real grasp on trying to measure such things.

"Smart enough to understand you, not smart enough that she'll talk back yet," Jake nodded. "If she survives a few years, she likely will be talking back."

"Which is something we'll need to discuss in private some time," Stark told him.

"Think I can work with that," Davis nodded. "How 'loyal' are they? Could be a problem if we've got multiple test pilots."

"It's never come up before, but others have flown the original without problems," Jake said. "It's part of the reason I worked with Dr. Stark on this one, and why you are involved this early. A jet that is too pilot-specific isn't very useful in the long run for the company or the military. If it's an issue, we need to find out now."

"So, when do we see what she can do?" Davis asked casually.

"That depends on whether you want to try flying that one first," Jake motioned to the one he was working on. "Or the one I know works."

"Given the differences you mentioned, I think I'd rather get a feel for how it's supposed to work before I try running that one," he said easily. "Sounds like it won't be quite like anything I've flown before."

"Not if I did my job," Jake chuckled, then pulled out his com.

"Whas'up?" a male voice answered.

"Up for taking a couple of the local pilots for a shake-down ride?" he asked. "I've got two here than want to know what a Turbokat should fly like."

"Sure thing," Chance answered eagerly. "Be right there."

"Well, he doesn't seem to mind having some backup at least," Davis said. "So, how many of the same bells and whistles do they have?" He asked curiously.

"Most of them," Jake said. "The weapons are more limited and more lethal, she's not quite as powerful, but it's largely the same design, just modified to be at least possible to factory-produce it."

"So she _does_ still have the orbital capability?" He asked with a hopeful tone that Jake was getting very familiar with from pilots.

"Yes," Jake chuckled. "Not as good as the Speed-of-Heat in the TurboKat herself, but this one should be able to make it to the moon and back as long as you bring along snacks."

"Now that'd be a Hell of a road trip," Davis chuckled. "Even if you only went part of the way... have you ever thought about working on that for commercial flight?"

"The basic designs are already down," Jake nodded. "Right now it's waiting on the design proof of concept here," he motioned to his mostly-finished Turbokat even as the roar of the engines on the original rattled the hangar. "If she does what I designed her to do, that'll be next."

"Very cool," Davis half-grinned as the doors to the hangar opened to reveal the original TurboKat hovering outside to show of what was arguably its most distinctive feature most would see.

"Showoff," Jake rolled his eyes tolerantly before the jet slid forward and landed in a single motion that nearly defied being a machine.

"Hey, you build 'em, I market 'em," T-Bone smirked as the cockpit rolled back and climbed out with his holo-belt running. "Ladies first?" He asked Captain Brown even as a mobile ladder was rolled over to help her climb into the back seat.

"My pleasure, T-Bone," she gave him a salute, one granted out of respect rather than military rank, and climbed up into the back seat she was most comfortable in.

"Just don't get any ideas while you're back there," T-Bone told her with something between a grin and an order.

"Hu?" she couldn't help but blink in confusion.

"Gunner's the one in charge by our training," Jake yelled up to her. "You're a passenger today, not in charge."

"Right, no problem," she nodded to them both and watched in appreciation of T-Bone's natural grace given his bulk as he leapt into the front seat of the jet from the ground with an easy lunge and settled in.

"Just out for a spin then?" T-Bone called down.

"Don't do anything that's going to scare them off," Stark chuckled.

"Show her as much as you can in three hours," Jake told him with a wink and grin.

"All _right_ ," T-Bone grinned widely and slid the cockpit cover forward and lifted off smoothly. "So what's your name?"

"Captain Brown," she smiled, setting back to look over the controls, absently wondering just what language they were in. "So, why don't you show me what she can do?"

"What's your G-tolerance?" he asked easily as they lifted into the sky with the rumble of powerful engines all around her, but remarkably well muted within the cockpit.

"With this suit, I can probably take close to fifteen, though I'd rather avoid anything above nine or ten," she told him.

"Hey, you've got Jake beat," T-Bone chuckled as they sped off. "How much of it is the suit?" He asked her curiously.

"On a good day, I can take a sustained 9.3G's," she grinned at him.

"Now that _is_ impressive," he said approvingly, pulling the TurboKat into a turn that she knew was just him taking a few minutes to warm up. "Up for a canyon run?"

"Any time," Brown felt the excitement begin to seep into her body and mind. How long had she dreamed of being in a craft this advanced? "Show me what this bird can do."

"You asked for it, lady," he grinned, starting into his old canyon run, glad to have a passenger he didn't have to hold back for while he did it.

She wasn't nearly as vocal as Jake, and it was kind of odd running without him, but he could smell her excitement as the afterburners kicked in and he blasted through the canyons not far outside Eureka, then straight up as the four extra Speed-of-Heat engines emerged to power them through the miles of sky quickly. Then the cockpit shield slid forward to block their view.

"The cockpit cover that can take it was shattered a couple weeks before we got here," T-Bone told her. "It's incredible when it's not blocked."

"I bet," Brown murmured and turned her attention to trying to figure out at least what family of languages this craft was built around. She looked up when the sound changed, then gasped when the cockpit shield slid back to reveal open space.

"Lemme tell you, the first time I hit space from this planet was a little scary," Chance admitted. "How do you like it?"

"It's incredible," she breathed, all traces of her self-control gone for several minutes as she put her hands on the canopy and stared.

"Nothing else quite like it, is there?" He asked with a low purr, looking down at the planet beneath them, remembering his own first trip into space that hadn't involved chasing aliens or running for his life.

"Wow," she murmured, then realized that he'd spoken to her and worked back to find the question. "No, there isn't," she agreed with him. "It's incredible."

"You're just lucky we're not chasing the leader of a group of space pirates," Chance chuckled. "Lemme know when you want to go where we've got real gravity again."

"How much of the world could we see from here and still get back in three hours?" she looked at him with an almost pleading expression.

"How fast do you mind doing the flyover?" He asked with a broad grin.

"A full orbit?" she suggested with a slight shiver in excitement.

"You got it," T-Bone cheered and turned the TurboKat against the rotation of the Earth and blasted off to give her the ride of her life.

* * *

"Hot damn, that smells good," Chance nearly drooled at the smells coming from the large boxes that Marie brought in for dinner.

"Spicy honey-glazed buffalo ribs," she told him and accepted the quickly offered help both Kats gave in relieving her burden. "Vincent special."

"Okay, these are going on the ordering menu," Chance grinned. "So, how's it going?"

"Gee, he's so much more friendly when I bring food," Marie teased. "Doing pretty well. I've got an update for you on a few things too," she told Jake with a light kiss.

"Cool," he nuzzled her back before setting the food on the table while she got the plates and a very large package of moist-wipes.

"This is going to be _so_ messy," Chance said with childish glee.

"It _did_ occur to me that we might want to have dessert in the hot tub," Marie giggled as they started to divvy up the ribs

"I think so," Jake chuckled and sat down to pick up his first sticky, gooey rib and rug into it with relish. "Oh kats, this is _good_ ."

"Tell me about it," Chance agreed after finishing his first bite, Marie starting into hers with a grin, but no comment. After they'd each made their way through the first one, she licked her lips and decided to give Jake the news.

"I managed to get the final tests on your cell cultures done today," she told him. "Afraid the news isn't any better than the last time."

"I can't say I'm surprised," he sighed, his mood decidedly cooled though he kept eating. "I've done a little self-education on genetics since I first asked."

"Well, your data from when Chance got turned into a frog was _real_ handy," she offered. "But I'm afraid that even with that, the best I could manage still suffered from rampant, uncontrollable mutations. But there's actually some good news on that front, if you're willing to accept a _little_ equipment."

"Is it better than what I have?" He raised an eyebrow and focusing on her fully.

"It should be," she nodded. "I was talking to Doctor Green; he's working on something called the Frogman Suit. It's actually close-fitting gloves and fins to provide webbing for propulsion, high-grade goggles to let you see underwater almost as well as above, and the important part, a mini-breather he calls the Mouth-Gill. He says you should be able to hold it in your mouth and breathe underwater as easily as above it, doesn't even need recharging."

"I'm officially impressed," Jake lost all interest in the meal. "When will it be ready to try out?"

"Down boy," Chance laughed before focusing on demolishing his ribs again.

"I'll have to talk to him, but I'd say tomorrow's not going to be impossible for a test run. He'll want to tweak it a bit for your metabolism, of course," she warned him. "I'd call him tonight, but I warned him about you and he said that his wife would murder him if I called after five," she chuckled. "Anniversary."

"Yes, ma'am," Jake ducked his head and returned to his food. The silence lasted all of 30 seconds. "How big is the breathing part?"

"He's not going to shut up about this now," Chance chided Marie in teasing. "You've invoked the Jake-monster."

"Ah, but I know how to shift his attention elsewhere by stripping when the time comes," she winked. "And it's not that big... a lot smaller than any other rebreather I've seen, but I didn't really measure it out either. Maybe the length of my hand and half as wide."

"That is small," Jake purred, nearly shivering in excitement. "How does it work, as best you know?"

"Separates the hydrogen from the oxygen in the water," she said, explaining what she could. "He said something about running off the hydrogen and processing the oxygen into breathable air... not sure how."

"I've got a pretty good idea," he nodded with a delighted expression. "Wish I'd have thought of it years ago too."

"Now his brain just went off," Chance added to his running commentary.

"Jake? Food," Marie giggled, reaching over and picking up one of the ribs, sticking the end into his mouth pointedly. "Figure out how to turn yourself into a fish later."

Chance snickered too, then rumbled as Jake made a display of taking the rib from his mouth and licking along its entire length.

"There, did I get him focused on something better?" She asked Chance with a giggle.

"You're forgiven," Chance licked his lips at the display, actually forgetting his own food for a moment until Jake began to eat the rib he'd been teasing them with.

"Now, let's finish eating so he can do that with the real thing," Marie grinned as they all set back to their food.

* * *

"Hey there handsome," a sultry female voice cooed to catch Chance's attention at the bar where he was killing time the next night while Jake was learning to be a kat-fish.

He looked over at the blonde woman who was taking a seat next to him, giving her a quick once-over.

"Hello yourself," he smiled. "Haven't seen you before...?"

"Melody," she offered, ordering a drink. "I think I know you though; Chance Furlong?"

"Guilty as charged," he admitted with a grin. "Looking for company tonight?"

"I was hoping for it," she grinned. "Saw you at the Heat Wave's Halloween party. You left before I had the chance to say hi," she winked, licking her lips.

"Feel like making up for that?" He leaned over with open interest in her now. "I did have to leave far earlier than I cared to."

"Mmm ... my place?" She suggested with a grin.

"Sounds good to me," he quickly finished his beer and stood.

"Follow my car?" She suggested as she finished her own drink and they started out. "Or want to ride along with me, pick up your bike tomorrow?"

"Your car," he chuckled and extended an arm for her. "The bike can follow on its own."

"Now that's cool," she chuckled, taking his arm and leading him out to a large, comfortable-looking vehicle parked near the door. "So that wasn't a costume you had at the party?" She asked, feeling his fur under the hologram.

"The leathers were the costume," he chuckled. "The fur is all natural."

"Now that's different," she grinned as they climbed into her car. "Dr. Clawson's like that too then?"

"Yes," he nodded before getting into the passenger side.

"Well, that explains what's between he and Dr. Moreau," she chuckled, pulling out. "Doesn't seem to slow you down too much though," she added with a grin. "You want to turn off whatever sort of disguise you've got on?"

"Sure," he reached down and clicked the holo-belt off. 

"You look a bit like a cat I used to have," she smiled, looking over his tabby body at a stoplight. "So, does the big kitty like getting petted?" She asked with a low, sultry tone, reaching down to rub his thigh.

"Among other things," he grinned at her and leaned over to lick along her jaw line. "I hope you have a strong bed."

"Oh I do," she rumbled lowly, her hand trailing higher up his thigh to cup his crotch when she had the chance as they made their way back to her home near the edge of town. "I hope you've got the endurance everybody says you do," she winked.

"It'd be hard to exaggerate and still have a human be conscious to notice," he said in earnest despite bragging. "Kats have much better endurance than your kind."

"Mmm ... I don't believe you," she said, clearly teasing. "You'll have to prove it," she winked as they pulled up in front of her house.

"Happy to," Chance grinned and followed her up to the front door, taking the opportunity of her being otherwise occupied opening it to rub against her back and fondle her breasts.

"Mmm... eager to get started, aren't you?" She murmured, leaning back to give him a kiss as she opened the door, leading him in before closing and locking it behind her.

"Hey, I don't usually have to work this hard to get laid," he said even as he took his shirt off.

"Oh, like you had to work _that_ hard," she teased, giving him a kiss as she started to undress. "I came to you, remember?"

"Yeah, but I had to wait, and try to figure out if anybody'd freak out over the fur and claws before I talked to them and still ended up there when you showed up," he complained jokingly. "Mmm nice thing to wait for though," he admitted and stepped close to kiss her neck and tease his fingers under her bra.

"Thank you," she rumbled, kissing his own neck as she started to undo his belt. "Mmm... I've seen worse things to freak out over," she giggled, his fur tickling her neck as he pushed her bra up and squeezed her breasts.

"Me too, but not everybody in Eureka is ready to handle the idea that humans aren't the only people on Earth yet," he murmured against her soft skin and reached around to unsnap her bra. "Now ... bed, or take you right here?"

"Mmm... tempting, but I think bed," she grinned. "I've got some things there that might make this a little more interesting," she winked.

"I'm all you need, beautiful," Chance countered but quite willingly followed her anyway.

"Mmm ... wait until you see what else is there," she teased, stripping the rest of the way, a seductive sway in her shapely hips as she led him back to her bedroom. "You want to be on top first?" She asked him teasingly.

"Well, now, if I start on top, you probably won't get a chance to," he said thoughtfully.

"Funny, I was about to warn you about the same thing," she rumbled throatily, kissing his neck and reaching down to squeeze his ass. "You'll be surprised what I can handle," she reassured him.

"Then why don't we start simple," he rumbled and kissed her heatedly as he lowered her to the bed on her back to make out for a while as they shifted and got comfortable. Then he slid to his side a bit and reached between her legs to test how ready she was.

Her sex was already damp when he touched her, and she moaned as she pressed up into his fingers, turning to kiss him.

"Mmm... ever top while you were tied up?" She asked him with a grin, spreading her legs.

"Can't say I've done that," he thought about it while he played with her swollen lower lips and spread her juices a bit, slickening her clit as he stroked it.

"Oooh... first time for everything?" She suggested with a low groan, reaching over to pull open a drawer in her nightstand that contained a pair of cuffs, among other things.

"Why not," he kissed her. "Just how does this work?"

"Mmm... you get on your hands and knees over me, I cuff you to the headboard, and then you fuck your mistress just as hard as you can," she nearly purred, biting his shoulder lightly and looping the cuffs through the headboard.

"I can get with that," he licked his lips and shifted with his knees between her legs and reached forward so she could cuff his wrists together.

She reached up, caressing his cheeks and wrapping her legs around him, reaching down with one hand to guide his shaft up against the slick entrance to her body.

"Take me, big boy," she grinned, kissing him hotly. She moaned as he thrust his hips forward, sinking into her with a single stroke. It was only a couple more before they found their rhythm and balance and the pace picked up.

Melody milked his shaft, her hands exploring his back until she found the spot above his tail and he groaned deeply. She moaned into his mouth, working that spot as he pounded into her tight, hot, wet body, her sex tingling deep inside. She wasn't sure if it was the level of uniqueness in his body ... the fur, the texture she could feel on his cock with each thrust, the sharpness of his teeth when they kissed ... or how easily he moved against her in all the right ways, but it was far too soon for her when her body clenched and shook out of control.

She all but screamed in ecstasy when he didn't even slow down as she came. Instead he grinned and kept going, pushing her over the edge again just as she began to come down.

"Oh fuck," she moaned, working him until he pumped his own seed deep into her sex.

"It gets better," Chance promised from over her as he continued to pound into her, only barely fazed by the orgasm he'd just had. "I can keep going for hours."

"Oooh... prove it," she grinned up at him, the two of them quickly settling into a punishing session of lovemaking that only ended when they were both well sated and unconscious, something that did indeed take Chance a good bit longer than Melody.

The next thing that Chance was really consciously aware of was when he woke up early the next morning... much, _much_ earlier than he was used to. Still, the skilled fingers around his cock were reasonably welcome, as were the soft, possessive nips on the back of his neck.

"Waking up, handsome?" Melody asked him with a low murmur, pressed close against his back.

"Mmm, think so," he mumbled as it sank it he was still handcuffed, or maybe it was handcuffed again. "Early."

"Wanted to give myself time to prove you weren't the only one who could put a lover under," she grinned, biting his neck lightly. "Mind raising your tail?"

Chance lifted it, not awake enough to really turn down a request.

"Good kitty," she rumbled, shifting her body a bit, pressing something slick and hard up against his ass and starting to press forward, a thick, silicone shaft starting to stretch his ass out.

"Hey!" he jerked forward sharply and twisted as best he could with his hands still bound together. His tail tucked between his legs, he stared at her in shock.

"What?" She asked him as he looked down, realizing she was wearing a strap-on.

"Don't _do_ that to a guy without warning," he snapped. "Or _asking_ ."

"Figured you were okay with bottoming," she pointed out. "You were willing to do it last night."

"No, I wasn't," he said simply. "I was willing to let you be in charge, sure, but that's one hell of a leap and you know it."

"I asked which of us was going to top first, and you _suggested_ that I do it," she pointed out, even as she reached down to take off the strap-on. "Forget it, if you don't want it, that's fine."

"Good," he relaxed significantly, more than a little concerned that a female had the same definition of 'topping' as a guy. If this was common and he'd just been lucky so far, it was definitely something he needed to find out before he went out for a random bedmate again.

"So, you want something you're a little more used to?" She asked him, setting the thing aside and lying down next to him again, reaching up to undo his cuffs.

"Sounds good," he kissed her and used his newly freed hands to run along her body. "If you still want to be in charge, I'm game, just stick to being a girl, okay?"

"All right then," she murmured, kissing him. "Mmm ... just don't like dildos?" She asked him, shifting off the bed and going over to what looked like a large wardrobe.

"Not much into guys," he chuckled slightly. "Only bottom like that every year or two."

"Mmm... Gary was the lucky guy then, huh?" She chuckled, opening the wardrobe and revealing a large collection of bondage gear that would have been right at home with some of Felina's kinkier friends. "Don't have a problem with blindfolds and gags, do you?"

"Blindfolds are fine. No gags yet though," he said easily. "Kinda hard to tell someone to stop when you can't talk. And Gary ... it was more the party than him. It's been ages since I was anywhere like that."

"Okay," she shrugged slightly, pulling out a heavy blindfold and coming over to wrap it around his eyes, turning the lights on so she could see a bit better now that he was blinded. "Hands up again, handsome; I like how you look cuffed," she teased, licking one nipple.

"No problem," he began to purr and arched into her touch even as he lifted his hands so she could cuff him again, confident he could break the headboard if he needed to.

"Mmm ... that's right, kitty," she murmured, kissing his chest and cuffing his hands, reaching down to stroke his cock. "Now, just what _do_ you like, hmm?"

"Being inside somebody," he rumbled in appreciation of her touch. "Like oral ... I'm a simple guy, really."

"Mmm ... who's managed to find a _very_ complex girl," she teased, shifting off the bed to go get something. He heard a lighter click a couple times, then she climbed back onto the bed a moment later, the smell of candle smoke somewhere near the bed. "I wonder what that fur of yours is up to," she murmured, rubbing her sex against his shaft.

"Oh, mummm," he mumbled, his attention distinctly more focused on his groin than what she was up to elsewhere.

"You like doing girls the way you do guys?" She asked him with a sultry tone. "Feel like having your cock up my tight, hot ass?"

"If that's where you want it," he moaned softly, more than happy either way as long as it went _somewhere_ in her soon.

She shifted again, and he felt her spreading some lube on his shaft before her painfully tight ass started to stretch out around his barbed tip, slowly working its way down his rigid cock.

" _Damn_ you're tight," he gasped, his eyes squeezed tight behind the blindfold.

"Been a while," she moaned, leaning down to kiss him, slowly working each ring of his rubbery barbs into her body. "That cock of yours is _incredible_ ," she panted, finally managing to get his conical head inside of her to its widest point.

"Thanks," he panted and struggled to hold still with the promise of such a tight body to come.

It took her a few more minutes, but she finally managed to get him all the way into her body, holding still and adjusting to the feel of the strange shaft stretching her out as deeply as it could.

"Ever work with heat?" She asked him, kissing his lips tenderly.

"Nope," he cocked his head a bit even though he couldn't see anything.

"In for something new then," she murmured, kissing his nose lightly before leaning back up, starting to move along his slick shaft, milking him expertly as she moaned with pain and pleasure.

"Sure," Chance agreed, sure she wasn't going to try anything truly painful with it.

She gave him a few minutes before doing anything, letting him get used to the feel of her ass, tight as a vise around his shaft, before he felt something warm drip onto his fur, trickling a short distance down his chest, towards his nipples, before it stopped and the heat started to sink in further, another line of warmth already starting to work down his body.

"Mmm, what _is_ that?" he asked as he shifted his body a bit to control the flow of the thick, hot substance.

"Paraffin," she told him, dripping a bit more over the thinner fur just above his nipples.

It earned her a tightening of his powerful body as it began to touch skin instead of fur. While he didn't object, it was clear on his face and in his movements that he wasn't happy either.

"Too much?" She asked, sounding a little disappointed.

"Well, it's sure as crud not a turn-on," he told her simply.

"I'll try something else next," she reassured him, the sound of something being set off to the side before she started to really ride him, working her ass around his cock as well as she could.

"Mmmmm, what's wrong with good old sex?" he asked as his hips began to buck against hers, more than ready for pleasure after the wax. This was definitely chalking up to one of those miscalculated one-nighters.

"Oooh... three hours of it last night," she pointed out, leaning forward to kiss him, squeezing down and just focusing on making him come. It wasn't a difficult task when he wasn't resisting and he soon filled her ass with hot seed.

"Mmm... you liked _that_ ," she murmured, kissing his chin as she milked him through his orgasm, enjoying the feeling for a few more minutes before she finally pulled off of him.

"Nothing in that not to like," he grinned and followed her movements by sound.

"Mmm... you know, you felt _so_ good inside of me," she told him, returning after a moment with a warm washcloth that she started to clean his shaft off with. "You ever get that thing cast?" She asked him curiously.

"Not professionally," he chuckled, enjoying the clean-up.

"Mmm ... up for another amateur one?" She giggled, rolling him over onto his hands and knees before climbing off the bed.

"As long as I get a copy of it," he put his usual condition on it.

"That's a first, but I'm good with it," she giggled. "Raise your hips a bit, handsome. This is gonna be a little cool at first."

"Okay ..." he complied, clearly a bit bewildered now.

She climbed off the bed, and he actually heard her leave the room, running the faucet in the attached bathroom and mixing something before she returned and pressed something with a cool, thick gel in it up around his cock, rubbing the spot above his tail with her free hand to help keep him hard.

"Now don't come for a few minutes," she warned him, kissing the small of his back. "And go ahead and lower your hips."

"Gotcha," he shook his head and relaxed a bit. "Mmm, you rimmed somebody before?"

"You like that?" She asked him. "Not my usual thing, but if it'll keep you hard until it sets... mmm... I'll have a nice little reward for you after it's done too," she winked.

"Yeah, I do," he rumbled and lifted his tail for her, looking forward to having some fun, and even if it wasn't the kind of 'cast' he'd been expecting when she suggested it, a good dildo of himself was definitely a unique gift for Jake and Marie.

She kept one hand on the mold beneath him, making sure it wouldn't move as she shifted to run the tip of her tongue around his tight, nerve-dense pucker, rubbing his thigh and keeping him stimulated, trying to keep him _just_ below the point of no return as well as she could.

"Oh, yeah, that's good," Chance murmured and held cooperatively still, simply enjoying the light pleasure. It was more than he wanted to wait for, but after experiencing Jake's teasing, this was easy.

It was almost ten minutes before she finally decided that the cast had set, and she pulled it off carefully.

"Not sure how this'll work with your barbs, but...." She managed to work it off the rest of the way, setting it aside and cleaning the extra gel off his shaft. "There... now, you want me to let you go?"

"That'll be good," he rolled a shiver down the entire length of his body to shake his muscles out.

She reached up, unfastening his cuffs and undoing the blindfold.

"For being such a good kitten, I'm all yours," she rumbled, kissing his muzzle as he worked the stiffness from the parts of him that didn't like it. "You can use anything you want out of the wardrobe, just ask if you're not sure how."

"Mmm," he stood and stretched, showing off his body and very hard cock for her in full display mode as he sauntered over and checked out the well-stocked toy chest. He was sure Jake'd all but kill to have this kind of collection, even if Chance himself didn't recognize half of it and didn't care for most of what he did. "You are one kinky girl," he rumbled. "So what of this do you actually like used on yourself?"

"Mmm... any of the dildos, the spreaders, and the little clips with the wires on the top rack," she told him. "You want to use those last ones, I'll have to set 'em up," she added.

"I think this'll work nicely for now," he grinned and selected a dildo a bit smaller than himself but with a decidedly unnatural design. "Since you're already nice and stretched out by me, it should work."

"Mmm ... one of the bought ones," she giggled, spreading her legs for him. "And it certainly should, where ever you want to put it," she grinned, licking her lips and watching as he climbed onto the bed and carefully worked the undulating corkscrew of translucent blue into her ass.

"Oooh... that's good," she moaned, keeping her legs spread and shifting her body to help him work it up into her, stretching her arms up towards the headboard suggestively. The hungry look he gave her was a definite bit of reward, but he kept his attention largely on working the dildo fully into her body until only the large flange was outside to keep it from going all the way in.

Then he moved over her and caught her wrists with one hand while the other reached between them to play along the lips of her sex and spread them wide.

"Mmm... I'm all yours, handsome," she whispered, pressing up into his touch, arching her lean body attractively, pressing her breasts up against him. She moaned deeply and honestly as he pressed into her sex with a single hard motion that rubbed his cock against the corkscrew dildo in her ass with her in between and the fur of his sheath against her clit.

* * *

Marie wasn't sure whether to shake her head in disbelief or amusement at the excitement radiating from Jake as she led the way to Dr. Green's lab. She'd seen him excited before, but nothing like this.

"Just how long _have_ you been dreaming about something like this?" She finally asked.

"Since I figured out I couldn't," he admitted, too excited to be embarrassed. "Six months old, maybe."

"And to think, most cats hate water," she teased lightly, giving him a kiss on the cheek as they stopped outside Dr. Green's office.

"But most Kats like to swim," he countered with a grin. "Even Chance got used to it eventually."

"Are we going to have to find a way to keep you from trying to swim to Japan?" Marie laughed.

"Mmm, that depends on how interesting Japan is," he winked at her and opened the door.

"It's also several thousand miles away," she pointed out with a chuckle as they headed in. The room was dominated by a glass-sided pool that test subjects could use, empty just now.

"Doctors Clawson and Moreau?" A friendly, casual voice called out from the back of the work area. A middle-aged man's head, covered with salt-and-pepper hair, popped out above a computer console. "Come in, please," he said with a welcoming gesture.

"Yes, thank you, Dr. Green." Marie said as they entered. She just shook her head at how fascinated Jake was at the huge glass-sided pool that took up much of the lab.

"So, I understand you're interested in trying out the 'Gill," Green said cheerfully, looking at Jake. "Hello? Dr. Clawson?" He chuckled, getting his attention. "You're comfortable with Earth's atmosphere, yes? Not just within your tolerances, but a reasonably good match to your own?"

"Yes," he nodded. "It's well within the normal variance of Aristal."

"All right then," Green nodded, pulling out a small face mask. "If you could put this on and breathe normally for a few moments, I'd like to make sure your respiration rate isn't too much faster or slower than normal; I might have to adjust how rapidly it can convert." He looked up at Jake again, considering his muzzle. "You should be able to hold it up and have it work," he decided.

Jake nodded and did his best to secure the mask around his muzzle. It was a bit awkward, but he soon found an angle that made a reasonable seal and breathed normally.

"Okay... seems normal enough," Green decided after a few minutes. "You're in excellent physical shape, I can see that much, so that's a good sign. All I know for sure is that it won't let you suck in any water, so if you start to feel unusual in any way, come up to the surface," he said, pulling the small breather out of a drawer and handing it to Jake. "You have a swimsuit or something like that to change into?"

"Under my jeans," he nodded, his eyes glittering with excitement.

"Go ahead and change then," Dr. Green chuckled. "Frankly, I don't think I need to ask if you're ready for a swim," he smirked. "You just want to try the breather, or the full gear?

"Let's start with the breather," Jake decided as he made an effortless time of stripping except for a very minimal pair of swimming skivvies. "One new thing to get used to at a time."

"All right then. Find a convenient place for the device, and we'll see about getting the breathing patch set up over your nose."

After a bit of fiddling and testing, he got it in place just in front of his ears along his forehead where it was held in place by a bit of water-safe glue.

"Now, we just work on the patch...." Dr. Green moved around, trying to find a convenient way to mount the small plastic bubble over Jake's nose so he could breath through it. "How's that?" He asked after a few moments of fiddling with it.

"It seems to work," he nodded after a few experimental breaths. "Now to see how it works underwater," he grinned and made an easy leap to the top of the glass-sided pool and swung over to land in the warm water with a small splash.

From a twenty feet below, Marie watched Jake slide under water with the easy grace of a seal. He stayed close to the surface for his first, relatively shallow, breath, then dove deeper and began to breathe normally.

"Well, it certainly seems to be working," Dr. Green grinned. "I'll work on a custom patch for his nose, and a collar he can wear the breather itself on, if you think that would work for him?"

"I expect it will," Marie couldn't help but giggle at the aquatic antics of her lover. "I knew he loved water, but this is something else. I'm sure anything that let's him use that daily will work for him."

"Wait until I've modified the gloves and flippers for his hands, feet, and claws," Green grinned. "He'll have to be reminded to come back up once in a while... so, you want me to work on enough for the three of you?" He asked her knowingly.

"That would be wonderful," Marie smiled warmly at him. "And potentially critical in getting him back," she considered the fast-swimming and agile maneuvers Jake already managed. "I think I'll need to get him tagged with a transmitter," she mused.

"I could build one into the collar," Green offered. "Mutual directional beacons, so you can find each other underwater, and keep the frequencies in the database, so we can find you all too."

"That would be great," she was honestly thrilled by the idea. "I was joking about swimming to Japan, but now ... he might just try it."

"I'll have to do some crush-depth analysis," Green mused. "And get him a rundown on what _not_ to eat, if his diet is anything like some cats?"

"He loves fish," Marie confirmed.

"Pure carnivore?" Dr. Green looked between them.

"No, but heavily leaning that way," she explained. "I've never asked about his survival training, honestly. I don't really want to know some of the things he might consider edible when out on his own."

"The main thing would be keeping him away from pufferfish and stonefish, among others," he pointed out. "That would get very bad, very fast."

"Agreed," she nodded quickly. "I'm sure he'll be well-versed before such a trip, or hunting."

"You know... I've got this image of him eating like an otter, floating away somewhere," Dr. Green mused. "Should I try and call him up?"

"Go for it, but he won't always come up even for me," she giggled lightly. "He _really_ has a thing for water."

"I'd rather guessed," Dr. Green pointed out dryly as Jake swam by the glass, visibly _very_ aroused. "I can always drain the pool too," he chuckled.

"That'd get his attention," Marie giggled. "Let me see if he'll come up on his own first," she added and headed for the ladder and platform most used to access the pool.

She watched his antics from above for a bit, marveling at how much he looked like an otter. She shook her head after a moment and patted the top of the water much like she did her bed to invite him in.

The first ripple of the sound caught his attention as his ears flicked towards it, then he turned to swim up to her.

"Care to come out for a little while?" She asked him with an indulgent smile. "At least long enough for Dr. Green to work on a more comfortable mount for that thing for you?"

"And maybe one for you?" he added with a wink and easily lifted himself out of the pool and onto the platform.

"Hay!" Marie tried to shield her face as he shook himself out. "There are towels down there. I'll help try and brush you out."

"Deal," he stole a quick kiss before making the twenty-something foot leap down in one smooth motion. "It works _great_ , Dr. Green."

"That's good to hear," the older scientist smiled. "If you can take it off, I'll get started on the collar for it tonight," he offered as Marie climbed down after Jake. "And for your mates," he added with a chuckle.

"They'll get a very solid series of test runs," Jake promised as he popped the bubble from his nose, then applied the mild solvent to undo the glue holding the breather to his head.

"I have few doubts you'll all put it through its paces," he chuckled. "I _will_ need you all to sign the appropriate release forms before you take them outside the lab though," he said apologetically, taking the prototype once it was loose.

"Of course," Jake nodded easily, already familiar with that side of Eureka.

"If you'd like to change, I _do_ have a dressing room...?" Dr. Green offered.

"This way," Marie snagged Jake's arm, his clothes in her other hand as she all but hauled him off.

"Thank you, Dr. Green," Jake called back as he followed his girlfriend.

" _You_ are wound up," she pointed out, giving him a quick kiss as they made their way back to his changing room. "Want to call it a day after this?"

"As much as that ever means," he chuckled as they entered a small bathroom designed for swimmers needing to dry off and clean up. "You can't tell me you're surprised," he murmured and nuzzled her.

"Not surprised just... bemused, I guess," she giggled, returning the nuzzle as he slid his swimming skivvies down, revealing fully what the minimal clothing didn't really conceal.

Jake chuckled and shook his head as he reached into the shower and turned on the water. "Every once in a while you do manage to remind me how short a time we've been together."

"It _feels_ like a lot longer than it really has been," she admitted. "In a good way though," she winked.

"Same here," he turned to kiss her before stepping under the shower with a deep groan of pleasure.

Marie made herself behave, not wanting to do anything with Jake _this_ close to her colleagues, especially knowing he would have no hesitation in doing so. She had his clothes ready when he dried off, and helped him get dressed.

"So, what did you think of it, all in all?" She asked him curiously.

"It is incredible," he shivered lightly and claimed a solid kiss. "Thank you."

"Mmm ... I aim to please," she smiled. "Just wait until all three of us have them, and the gloves and boots to go with them," she winked as they headed back into the main lab.

"Thank you for the shower, Dr. Green, and the best swim of my life," Jake waved goodbye to the man was buried in his work.

"Welcome," Dr. Green mumbled in response before they left.

"I think we'll have a very good time, until Chance starts to complain of being waterlogged," Jake chuckled,

"Somehow, I think you'll find a way to stop him from complaining," Marie smirked. "Oh, I'm going to need to ask you a question, and to spin by Dad's lab on the way out; you mind?"

"I don't mind," he said easily.

"M'kay. Have you two done any research on Thanksgiving since the commercials started running?" She asked as they turned to head down further into Biosciences.

"A little," he nodded. "Being with family, lots of food, particularly turkey."

"That's the highlights of it these days," she nodded. "There's more, but the historians are arguing about that like dogs fighting over a bone. At any rate, Dad was wondering if you guys would like to come over this year? Mom _won't_ be there," she added. "He heard about the dance, I think he wants to keep us separated until the Fourth of July or so."

"Not a bad idea," Jake growled softly, bristling at the too-fresh memory. "And I think that would be good," he added. "Though Chance might have other plans."

"We can check first," she said easily, giving Jake a light hug. "He'd just like to get to know you guys a bit better, I think," she smiled.

"I don't mind," Jake forced himself to relax at her touch. "We just don't have what little social connection to the day that Americans have."

"I understand," she said easily. "I'm just glad you're willing to risk being around _any_ of my family lately," she teased. "Though Chien will be glad to see you guys again, now that he can play."

"I'm sure," he smiled and shook his fur out the rest of the way. "I try not to judge people without knowing them."

"Mmm... so, let's go tell him that unless something else comes up, we'll probably be there, then go take care of that not-so-little 'problem' of yours back home," she purred, nuzzling his cheek. "Sound good?"

"Very," he purred softly and slid an arm around her, pulling her close to his side as they walked.

* * *

Melody tapped the steering wheel lightly as she waited across the street from Chance's place. It had taken a little digging to figure out where he lived, but not too much. Technically, it _had_ only been a week or so since their date... but she was getting a little impatient.

She made up her mind, climbing out of the car and locking the door before starting across the street and up to his door, ringing the doorbell.

A shorter, slender male feline opened the door, and actually looked a little surprised to see her.

"Hello?" he sort of asked.

"Uhm... hi, is Chance here?" She asked, privately realizing that this had to be Jake, his housemate.

He nodded and turned into the house. "Chance! Company's here."

"Who is it?" The tabby called back.

"Melody," the blonde offered.

Chance made an indistinguishable sound and got up to go to the door and regarded her evenly. "Yeah?"

"I was wondering if you had any plans this weekend?" She asked him, trying to leave it open. "I'd called, but I guess you haven't checked your messages yet."

"I have plans," he told her bluntly. "They don't include you."

"Okay, what'd I do to earn that?" She asked him with a frown, almost wincing visibly. "If it's about your wakeup call, I apologized," she pointed out.

"Yes, you did," he nodded acknowledgement just to avoid an opinion argument. "We also have almost nothing in common for kinks. You said it yourself, and your toy chest backed it up. I'm not into that kind of stuff."

"Okay, I could dial it back a bit," she offered. "I didn't think it was _that_ bad for you."

That made Chance frown. "You can't be that desperate for company."

"Who said anything about desperate?" She asked him incredulously. "I happen to like you, is that really so hard to believe?"

"That's an understatement," he snorted and crossed his arms. "We barely bothered to exchange names, what I do bores you and what you want I'm not even remotely interested in. What's to like?"

"So all I was was a quick fuck?" She demanded, raising her voice as she leaned forward angrily.

"You expected something else from a guy you picked up at a bar in less than a minute?" He raised an eyebrow. "Get real. You want something more, you'd better learn to bring it up _before_ you get undressed and go horizontal."

"Well excuse me for deciding you were worth more than that!" She shouted at him.

"So are we in agreement that we aren't interested in date two?" Chance asked evenly.

"You're impossible!" She nearly screamed, turning around and stalking off, back towards her car.

"Okay, that one was scary," Jake observed when Chance closed the door with a shake of his head.

"Nah, scary was that stretch when Turmoil started writing a couple years back," Chance pointed out. "At least Melody there hasn't tried to kill me," he half-laughed.

"Yeah, but on that one you did lead her on a bit," Jake pointed out as they headed back to the couch to snuggle up together and finish watching the anime either completely followed, but were both enjoying the graphics of. 

"Hadn't for almost ten years," Chance muttered tolerantly, nuzzling his cheek.

"Did she ever say way she was suddenly interested in T-Bone again?" Jake looked up.

"Think she was feeling nostalgic," the tabby chuckled darkly. "One of the shrinks said something about changing her meds again, so maybe she went off something or they fiddled with something and the psycho came out... certainly a surprise after that long," he admitted. "Anyways, even if she wants to, can't reach me anymore."

"Don't say that, please," Jake was honestly unsettled. "The _last_ thing we need is her being the only she-kat on the planet."

"Always Ma-" He was interrupted by the sound of a horn blaring briefly in front of the house, tires squealing... and something disturbingly being hit that sounded disturbingly _not_ like a car.

"Ah crud," Jake was on his feet only seconds faster than Chance as they both rushed outside.

Marie's car was at the end of a pair of long skid marks, Melody laying crumpled over the hood as the Cat climbed out, moving unsteadily as she went to see how badly hurt she was.

Jake ran to her at full speed, Chance barely a pace behind him, though his attention was on Melody, knowing his mate would see to Marie.

"What happened?" Jake asked even as he insisted on checking Marie out 

"I don't know," Marie said, clearing her head as quickly as she could. "She just jumped out in front of me," she said. "Jake, call 911," she told him once she'd stopped seeing stars, moving to see what she could do to help the unconscious woman.

"Right, right," he mumbled and pulled his PDA from under his belt and activated the phone feature. "Hi Jo, a woman got hit outside our place," he paused. "Car vs. pedestrian." 

"She's still alive," Chance supplied as he used what medical skills he had to help the woman he'd just sent away.

"She's still breathing. Melody something," Jake relayed. "Medical help is needed."

"Is her spine stable?" Chance asked Marie.

"I think so," she nodded. "You're not -" The tabby was already running off to get the truck, pulling it out in to the street.

"Get her in, and I'll need somebody to make sure she doesn't get moved too much," Chance barked back towards the two of them.

"I am _so_ not trained for this," Marie murmured.

"Probably better trained than we are," Jake reminded her as he picked up Melody and got in the back of the truck.

"At least let me get her off the bed of the truck," Marie said as she hurried to the trunk and pulled out a small sleeping bag. She laid it out before climbing in with Jake, who set Melody down on it. They were barely settled when the engine roared and the truck powered down the road.

Jake called Jo again. "We're already on our way to the hospital. Chance wasn't willing to wait."

"Somehow, I'm not surprised," she said. "Sheriff Carter will meet you there."

"Understood," he nodded and hung up to focus his attention on keeping Melody from being hurt any worse than she was.

* * *

Sheriff Jack Carter shook his head as he walked up to Jake and Chance's place, careful to stay on the path to avoid their security system. Normally, he wouldn't have bothered them about what he'd just found out, but he thought they deserved to know this time.

After all, it wasn't often that somebody jumped in front of a car in front of your house, especially in Eureka.

He knocked on the door, quietly hoping they'd be dressed yet. It was a momentary wait, then Jake opened the door with a rather relieved expression.

"She'll be okay?" Jake asked softly and stepped back to let the sheriff into their living room. Chance and Marie were on the couch not far away, but not exactly in the conversation yet.

"Physically, yeah," he nodded. "Mentally... that's more Beverly's department. How's Marie holding up?"

"I'll be fine," she answered, looking over the back of the couch at him. "I know I couldn't stop," she added more quietly. "These two went into more detail than I thought possible about how and why that was true," she smiled weakly.

"The downside of dating a mechanic," Chance chuckled. "Speaking of which, Henry has her car?"

"Yeah," Carter nodded. "Should be good as new in a couple days. And it's pretty clear that you weren't at any fault; she was trying to get somebody to hit her, you were just the 'lucky' person to come down the street."

"Speaking of which, what possessed her?" Jake asked, something in his tone making Carter sure it was quite possibly a literal question.

"Would you believe she said something about wanting to get Chance's attention?" Carter asked them seriously.

"Somehow, yes," Chance groaned.

"I don't think she'll try anything more," the Sheriff said reassuringly. "Beverly's keeping an eye on her, trying to sort out what's going on, but I've run into things like this before ... if they live through the first attempt and get psych help, it can usually be handled without much incident. No charges, of course."

"That'll make an improvement over the last one," Jake chuckled a bit. "She hasn't tried to kill either of us."

"Yet," Chance muttered. "You have to be _seriously_ whacked to turn a one night stand that went poorly into a major romance."

"Try living in LA," Carter chuckled grimly. "You might want to watch out, and if you want to try and get a TRO or something I'd be willing to help with the paperwork, but it's up to you."

"TRO?" Chance frowned, not recognizing the abbreviation.

"Temporary restraining order," he explained. "It'd be a document that would make it illegal for her to come within a certain distance of you."

"I'll keep it in mind, but I have dealt with worse than her," the tabby nodded. "Besides, if she's getting help she's not likely that dangerous. I'd be more concerned with her hurting herself over her delusions."

"We'll save the option for later then," Carter nodded easily. "Any other questions you guys have that I can answer?"

"What's her specialty?" Marie asked.

"Electronics, I think," Carter said easily. "Nothing prone to building weapons of mass destruction, thankfully," he chuckled grimly.

"Something else that makes her easier than Turmoil," Jake chucked. "Thanks for the intel, sheriff."

"You're welcome," he said easily. "I should probably get going then; Henry'll call when your car's ready," he told Marie before going to the door with Jake.

"Hopefully your evening won't be as exciting as the last couple hours," Jake said in parting.

"Here's hoping," he chuckled, heading out towards his car.

* * *

Cindy checked out the locals at the bar as she entered and went up to the counter to order a rum and Dr. Pepper. There were many familiar faces, and she spent the better part of an hour chatting and generally carousing before her attention was drawn to an attractive blonde getting hammered at the bar. She recognized her as a newcomer into electronics, though for the life of her she couldn't place her name or exact specialty.

She headed over towards her as the blonde ordered another daiquiri; she certainly seemed determined to end the night completely blitzed, to judge by her already sluggish, unsure movements.

"Hi, I think I've seen you around?" Cindy opened as she sat down.

"Maybe y'have," Melody decided, looking over at her and considering her for a long moment. "GD? Think I've seen you there too."

"Just about everybody here is," Cindy chuckled and offered a hand. "Cindy Stevens, surveillance."

"Melody Wilson, electronics," the blonde said, shaking her hand with a bit of a smile. "Circuit boards," she added as her next drink arrived, her voice more sober than her body had seemed to be at first.

"So what's the reason for getting plowed?" Cindy asked, offering to listen to the woman's grief.

"Men," Melody muttered. "Man, in particular. _Hate_ getting treated like I'm nothin' more than a bedwarmer in the morning."

"Yeah, that can suck when you're not expecting it," she nodded. "What happened?"

"He was sitting on his own, over there somewhere," she said, waving off further down the bar, "I came over and we talked a bit. _Seemed_ to hit it off. He came back to my place... after he left in the morning, didn't hear from him again. Tried to get in touch with him, he just told me... Hell, can you _believe_ he had the nerve to blame _me_ for it?" She groaned. "Said it was my fault for being interested in him, when he wasn't in me. Seemed to be going so well the night before," she murmured, taking a long drink.

"One of the risks with dating," Cindy murmured in agreement. "It sucks, but what can you do? Stop and be alone, or try again."

"And keep trying," Melody nodded. "Not worth giving up, y'know? Even if it does hurt sometimes."

"A whole lot, sometimes," Cindy agreed. "That's still better than the ones who lead you on for months at a time, then 'suddenly' decide they aren't interested in you because of something they knew before anything started."

"That's what shallow, unmarked graves are for now, isn't it?" Melody deadpanned, laughing a bit.

"I reserve those who play me on for years, then hook up with a guy," Cindy winked.

"Hell, if they're willing to take a third, have the right sort of guy... might not be bad," Melody mused. "So, you give up on 'em yet?"

"True enough," Cindy grinned with some definitely good memories. "I like guys too much to give up on them completely, but I don't stick to just them anymore."

"Been ages since I've done anything like that," Melody chuckled. "So, you just out here for fun, or looking for some?"

"Little of both," Cindy grinned. "Mostly fun, but I'm not about to turn down some action."

"Not afraid I'm gonna get clingy and think there's something there that shouldn't be?" Melody giggled slightly.

"Only if you're going to," Cindy chuckled. "This is just a one-nighter, right?"

"Yeah, I'm not _that_ close to giving up on guys yet," Melody smirked slightly. "Maybe friends, but that's fine."

"Sounds good to me," Cindy nodded and sipped her beer. "So you like two guys together too?"

"Mmm... not as much as buff guys taking it from girls, but it's the next best thing," Melody smiled as she worked on her own drink, a little more slowly now that she had a reason not to be totally hammered.

"You like videos and toys much, when you can't get company?"

"Got a recommendation?" Melody asked her curiously. "Already seen most of what's out there."

"Not _here_ ," Cindy winked. "I don't have much with a girl taking a guy, but I've got quite a collection that doesn't exist anywhere else."

"Mmm ... think I'm officially _very_ interested now," Melody giggled. "You're gonna have to drive though," she admitted.

"No problem," she agreed as they worked on their drinks a little more seriously. "Any other kinks you're into?"

"Mmm ... name it, I've probably done it," Melody grinned. "Mostly S&M play, though I _can_ take no for an answer."

"Bondage?" Cindy asked, mentally running through her collection.

"Mhm... bondage, wax play, just about anything," she said easily. "How about you?"

"Dress-up, roleplay, various natural chemical stimulations like capsaicin and ginger, some bondage. I've tried nearly everything too," Cindy said.

"Sounds like a fun start," Melody rumbled happily. "Ever try electrical play?"

"A few times," Cindy nodded. "It has to be done right, but it can be fun. Do you bottom and top?"

"Yeah, though I prefer topping," she nodded easily.

"I would never have guessed," Cindy said drolly, then grinned. "I think we can get along, though I _do_ want to top a bit tonight."

"Start that way, or finish up?" Melody asked her, grinning back and leaning over to kiss her.

"Mmm, finish up that way," she licked her lips. "I'd like to see what you're good at."

"Finish your drink and let's go then," Melody grinned broadly. "Want to let me pick a few things up first, or just head back to your place?"

"We can swing by your place," Cindy said and quickly finished her beer. "Though I probably have most kinds of toys."

"I have a few that are personal designs," Melody grinned, polishing off the last of hers and standing up, taking a moment to steady herself out.

"Then we definitely need to go by," Cindy giggled playfully and offered her an arm, one that Melody took gratefully as they paid and headed to Cindy's car for the short drive to Melody's place, then on to Cindy's.

"Mmm ... hope you've got a taste for the exotic," Melody grinned as they headed into Cindy's house, setting her 'overnight bag' down near the sofa.

"Generally," Cindy nodded and turned to kiss Marie lightly as she drew her close. "So ... would you like to start with a show, or get your hands on the goods right away?"

"Mmm... how 'bout both?" Melody murmured, kissing her a bit more deeply. "Run the show... and see if your couch is up to us after it gets going?"

"Works for me," Cindy grinned. "What kind of show would you like?"

"You putting it on yourself?" Melody asked, wanting to be sure she was on the same page this time.

"It is what I was thinking of," she kissed her again. "Or we can watch a home movie if you prefer."

"Mmm ... you have anything...." Melody thought for a moment. "Anything that'd go well with a tiger?" She asked, raising an eyebrow a bit, thinking about the toys she'd brought along.

"As prey, or partner-lover?" Cindy crooned.

"I think I like prey," Melody rumbled deeply. "Want me to be the big bad tiger?"

"Ohhh, definitely," Cindy shivered in anticipation before she stepped back. "I'll go get ready."

"And I'll be ready for you too, unless you've got anything fancy you want to do with me first."

Cindy quirked an eyebrow, then considered the blond thoughtfully. "We could do body paint stripes and such, really do you up like a tiger."

"That's the sort of thing I'd thought you might be interested in," Melody rumbled lowly. "You go get dressed, call me when you're ready?"

"Will do," she gave her another kiss and headed to her playroom to set up and get dressed.

Melody shivered lightly, then started to undress, folding her clothes up and setting them on the couch. She reached into her bag, pulling out the strap-on harness and her very, very special new toy, a long, thick dildo with tiny barbs on the end that were capped by tiny, rounded metal probes. She made short work of mounting the dildo into the harness, and putting the controls for the battery mounted inside it where she could reach it easily. She considered putting it on... then decided to wait until the last time.

She didn't know how much fun Cindy'd want to have while painting her, after all.

"Oh Melody," Cindy's voice called to her, sing-song, from a nearby room. "Do come in."

The blonde started back, following Cindy's voice with a sway in her hips that was marred slightly by her still-shaky coordination.

"Wow," Melody blinked in surprise to see a lush jungle in the room, but soon her attention was focused on the red head in the central clearing. Cindy was kneeling there, dressed in a beautiful sari that wasn't strictly traditional for it's translucent material and how much it showed off. At her side were a collection of paint pots.

"You don't do anything by halves, do you?" She asked with a grin, approaching Cindy and setting the strap-on aside, kneeling and tipping Cindy's face up for a tender, lingering kiss.

"Not when I can help it," she murmured. "Want to stay blond, or go all the way?"

"Washable dyes?" Melody asked her, reaching down to rub her sides possessively.

"Yap," she grinned and leaned into the touch. "There might be a bit of a tint left, but a couple showers should get it out.

"All the way then," Melody grinned, kissing her again, licking at her lips, taking the kiss further when Cindy parted her lips to let her. "Mmm... and if you want to play while you paint, feel free," she murmured.

"I was hoping you'd say that," Cindy said and picked up a small squeeze bottle and squirted a sizable portion of foaming gel into her hand. "Hair first, so I can match your body to it."

Melody shook her blonde hair out, then leaned forward so that Cindy could get at it all.

* * *

"You are significantly calmer today," Stark observed as Jake joined him in the control room before anyone else.

"This jet, I built," he grinned at the more somber scientist. "This one _works_ ."

"So did the Harrier, by the time you were done with it," Stark chuckled. "I suppose it's also a factor that it's not Furlong piloting it today?"

Jake cocked his head slightly and thought about it. "Not really. I just trust this jet."

"Gee, so glad to hear that _after_ we've strapped in," Lieutenant Davis joked over the comm link back to the control center.

"The jets I don't trust only Chance gets to fly," Jake chuckled, only to be elbowed by his mate.

"Everything look okay for the pre-flight?" Stark asked him.

"Yes, sir," Davis replied smartly.

"Everything good back here, sir," Brown added from the back seat of the fighter.

"Well, then I think it's time we get started," Stark said easily, looking over at General Williams, who was also in attendance. "Agreed?"

"Yes," the old man smiled slightly. "I have heard so much about this jet."

"None of it exaggeration, if it came from Global Dynamics," Stark assured him.

"I hope not," the General nodded as the new Turbokat started to take off.

"Let's start with the canyon run," Jake instructed them.

"Roger," Davis chuckled. "Canyon run without a canyon." The Turbokat flew off, starting to navigate the twists and turns that were laid out as a frequent practice run for them.

"Now, is this actually the finished product, or is there more work to be done yet?" General Williams asked.

"It could fly as finished, but we are still working on the computer systems and some of the built-in weapons," Jake answered as he watched the readouts with a critical eye he hadn't had with the Harrier.

"The computer's AI is very advanced, and very, very touchy," Stark explained. "There's a fair amount of work to be done there yet."

"A rough estimate on how much longer it should take, if everything goes according to schedule?"

Jake flicked a glance at Stark, who nodded fractionally back. "Four to six months," Jake answered, his attention largely back on the readouts for his project's performance and frowned. "A year on the outside. Well before any factory could be ready to build the bodies."

"It would still have to go through appropriations; we've got plenty of time before that," Williams chuckled slightly. "It seems to be performing well," he pointed out, noticing Jake's dissatisfied expression.

"Well enough," Jake admitted. "The reaction time is slow, the skin isn't doing as well as it can. Camouflage system is several seconds behind."

"Fixable problems?"

Yes," Jake nodded seriously. "It's all the computer system from the look of the readings. The material is doing fine."

"Well, from what I'm seeing so far I'd say it's still at least a match for existing models," the General pointed out. "How does it perform in tighter situations?"

"Not quite as well, but she can still fly circles around an F-15," Jake cracked a grin.

"The maneuvers they're pulling now are following a virtual canyon that's in their display," Chance added from behind the gathering. "Any way we can pull that up so the General can see what they're seeing?"

"Of course," one of the operators nodded and activated a secondary large screen with the cockpit view of a death-defying race along a gorge little bigger than the jet on several turns.

"Not bad for their third run," Chance mused.

"Third?" Williams raised an eyebrow. "Now much of that is the pilot?"

Jake glanced down at the readouts telling him who was doing what. "About half."

"First time they stalled out about a minute ago," Chance admitted. "She's learning pretty well though."

"The pilot was male, I thought," General Williams glanced at the bodybuilder of a pilot that had handled the harrier so expertly.

"He's talking about Abby, the jet, not the humans," Jake chuckled. "He's been flying my birds too long."

Stark silently hoped these two didn't go off on a tangent that would be too hard to cover up, or that General Williams wouldn't become too interested in the odd statements.

"Bad habit of mine," Chance admitted with a chuckle of his own. "And most pilots," he smirked slightly, letting it rest, the General seeming content to do the same for now.

"It's still quite impressive," he admitted. "When it's finished, how much of its performance will be related to the pilot?" He asked Jake.

"The top ten to fifteen percent," Jake told him. "The part that determines who would win when you have a Turbokat up against a Turbokat."

"Despite the AI, it's still going to take some top-notch pilots to handle them right," Chance pointed out.

"I'd been under that impression," the General nodded. "Now, I seem to remember somebody saying something about this jet having low-orbital capability?"

"Yes, sir," Jake nodded, keeping quiet about it going far beyond 'low-orbital'. "You heard the General, take her up."

"Roger," Lt. Davis replied and tipped the jet's nose up vertical to the ground and powered the engines to full, roaring into the atmosphere towards the edge of space.

"It can make as many trips as it has fuel for," Stark offered in explanation as the view from the cockpit darkened. "There's some structural strain, but not nearly what is usually involved. Can't make large runs, of course, but with some work it could work for rapid deployment of troops beyond the range of anything short of an ICBM, or a spy plane that would be cheaper to operate than many satellites."

"And easier to get where you want it to go, too," Chance added.

"Not to mention a lot harder to hit," Jake chuckled and watched the performance. "Faster than an SR-71 at full power."

"What's its radar signature like?"

"Turn the transponder off," Jake instructed them, then nodded towards the radar screen as the blip that had been there simply vanished. "You don't have equipment sensitive enough to find it, even at a couple feet away."

"How do you manage that and keep it flying?" Williams asked. It didn't look _that_ much like a traditional stealth design, let alone one that effective.

"The aerofoil and jet thrust," Jake looked at him uncertainly.

"The skin absorbs many frequencies of energy, including light, if we turn that feature on," Stark explained. "Different from most of the current approaches to stealth."

"All right," Williams nodded. "Is there anything else you have lined up?"

"Would you like to see her in a dogfight?" Jake grinned at him.

"If she's up to it and you've got a jet ready, of course," Williams chuckled.

"Of course," Stark nodded slightly for the controller to get the F-15 airborne and call the Turbokat down. "All weapons are computerized illusions so we do not damage either craft. You can watch the main screen to see what would happen in a real battle."

"Of course," Williams nodded, turning towards the main screen, already familiar with Eureka's unusual setup for dogfights. It took only minutes before the two fighters closed with each other, the Turbokat's stealth turned off once again to make it even remotely fair for the F-15.

"This one's going to be a bit of a surprise for you, General," Stark promised as the Turbokat started closing in far more than the usual missile ranges, turning to try and get around behind the F-15 while avoiding its own pilot's attempt to get a missile lock.

The pair jinked and circled several times, the F-15 pushed to its limits to keep the Turbokat off its tail, eventually to no avail.

A turret dropped from the bottom of the Turbokat, something that looked like it was supposed to be a mini-gun. It spun around, and on the main screen a number of simulated grey globs sprayed out and hit the other fighter's engines.

"What was that?" Williams demanded, too startled by what he had thought he had seen to not.

"Cement gun," Jake supplied as the Turbokat darted in and fired a high-powered grappling claw that latched onto the F-15's fuselage. An electrical jolt cracked across the captured craft, knocking its systems out.

"A cement gun?" He asked dubiously.

"Technically, it fires a quick-setting, high-viscosity polymer that is very heat tolerant," Stark told him. "It is able to solidify inside an engine or knock a missile from the air."

"Cement gun's less of a mouthful," Jake chuckled.

"Agreed," Williams nodded. "I assume it has more traditional weapons as well?"

"Lasers, 50 caliber machine guns and missiles, along with a variety of my more creative efforts," Jake said.

"The capture _was_ a nice touch," the General observed. "Assuming it would work that well in real life."

"It is something no other craft in the world could even attempt," Stark said.

"It has before," Jake said absently, most of his attention on various readouts about the performance of his creation.

"When?" Williams asked, looking between Jake and Chance, some of the strange things they'd said adding together.

"When we flew the jet that one is based on," Chance told him.

"You've used that jet for actual combat operations, and nobody's heard of it? How did you manage that around here?" Williams glared between the three of them, demanding an explanation.

"They were not local operations," Stark tried his best to avoid it going any further.

"Excuse me, Dr. Stark, but I'd appreciate a bit more thorough an explanation," General Williams said seriously. "I know Eureka operates under different rules, but if a jet that can outperform your latest has been involved in operations _anywhere_ , I'd like some details before recommending that we invest in a lesser model."

"Very well," Stark nodded reluctantly. "Do remember the non-disclosure papers you signed before using the knowledge. Show him," he looked at both Kats.

Jake and Chance glanced at each other and shrugged a bit before turning their holo-belts off.

"Like he said, it wasn't local," Chance said and watched the General stared at them both, not entirely sure how to respond.

"You can't have the original design because no human can fly her at full capability," Jake said into the shocked silence. "There aren't five Kats on Aristal that could have even tried. She was built _for_ Chance."

"What _are_ you, and what is Aristal?" Williams finally decided on, sounding like he honestly wasn't sure he believed his eyes.

"We are Kats, and Aristal is our homeworld," Jake explained as simply as he could. "A cross-reaction between the dimensional radar in the TurboKat and the temporal magic our opponent was using shunted us here instead of back in time on our own world."

"And that radar _isn't_ in the new Turbokat's systems," Chance added.

"For obvious reasons, we'd rather this _doesn't_ get out," Stark pointed out.

"I... can understand that," Williams nodded as he recovered from his shock. "There's no way for others to come over from your world?"

"No more reliably than how we did," Jake said quietly. "We can't go back either."

"I see... you can understand, however, why this is a concern."

"Of course, Sir," Chance said easily. "But the refits for the Harrier have worked perfectly so far, haven't they?"

"True," Williams acknowledged. "And these new jets _are_ impressive. I'll have to reserve my final judgment until seeing the final product, of course."

"Of course," Stark answered before Jake could even think about a question in response. There were things not even he wanted to see the Kat turn his attention towards. "We all know you will find nothing close to it at ten times the cost."

"Quite possibly," Williams acknowledged. "Well, this was quite ... educational. I'm afraid that I have to go see to the test of the sonic cannon, but thank you all for taking the time to give me this little demonstration."

"You are welcome, General Williams," Stark inclined his head slightly. "If you would come with me for the sonic cannon demonstration."

"Have a good day," Jake nodded to him.

* * *

Cindy slung her duffel bag over her shoulder and grabbed her keys from the table near the door. She had just enough time to make it to the airport if she hurried.

Just lucky her camera gear was already loaded into the car.

She ran out to her car, locking the door behind her and climbing in, starting the car and pulling out. As she navigated the streets of Eureka, she couldn't help but notice her steering was a bit sluggish.

"C'mon, Darlin', Chance _just_ gave you a tune-up last weekend," she sighed, wrenching the wheel to one side to make a corner. She'd have to get it checked out again after she was back from Phoenix. Then again....

As she left Eureka, she pulled out her cell phone, watching the road as she tapped out a message to Chance to try and pick up her car from PDX and take a look at it. She sped up to highway speeds, going a little slower to make up for the difficulty making the curves.

Then, as she came up on a sharp curve, and tried to slow down for it, she realized the steering was the least of her problems. Half-way through pressing the brakes, they just collapsed to the floor, like there was nothing there for them.

Her finger on the 'send' button, Cindy dropped the phone, grabbing the wheel and jerking it around, barely making the curve, bleeding off _some_ of her speed in the process. She hit the brakes again, but they barely resisted at all. She swallowed hard as she rolled down a hill, picking up speed as she approached a curve even sharper than the last.

She closed her eyes, bracing herself for running off the road even as she tried to swerve and slow herself down....

A moment later, Cindy's car was smashed up against a tree by the side of the road, the front end twisted and windshield shattered, its driver slumped forward into the steering wheel.

* * *

Chance grabbed the phone as it rang, not giving it the chance to bother Jake in his workshop.

"Furlong," he said briefly.

"This is Sheriff Carter. I need you to come out to just past milepost 13 on highway 140. There's been an accident."

"Need the tow truck?" He asked easily, holding the phone on his shoulder as he got his coat.

"Henry's here, I just want another pair of eyes right now," Carter explained. "Nothing's obvious, I just don't like what my gut's saying about it."

"Right," Chance nodded. "Want Jake too? He's busy, but if it's important...."

"I don't think so," Carter decided quickly. "Unless you need an excuse to drag him out of his lab, of course."

"Nah, he's only been in there for a day," Chance chuckled slightly. "I'm on my way," he added before handing up and heading out on a cyclotron for the short drive out to mile marker 13.

He realized as he drove up that things were pretty well taken care of already. He passed the ambulance on the way out, sirens wailing, and hoped that they got back and whoever was in it was safe.

Then, as he recognized the tangled remains Cindy's car on the back of Henry's tow truck, his stomach twisted and he debated turning around to make _sure_ they got to the hospital in time. He decided against it, pulling up and taking his helmet off.

"What happened?" He asked, new concern in his voice.

"She crashed into that tree," Carter motioned to a small, badly torn up evergreen not far off the side of the road. "Since she can't talk right now, I hoped you could answer a few questions, given what I've heard about your relationship."

"We're not really close, but if there's anything I can say, sure," Chance said sincerely. "No idea _why_ she crashed?"

"Oh, I've got a couple," Henry called from where he was looking at her car, and instantly had Chance's full attention.

"I gave that a full tune-up not three days ago," Chance said as he walked up, now all but ignoring Carter. "It was in perfect shape."

"You checked the brakes and steering lines too?"

"First thing after the oil," Chance nodded, an irritable twitch in his tail that the humans couldn't see.

"Well they're rusted straight through now," Henry pointed out, moving to let Chance get a look.

"Then we're dealing with either a Eureka fluke, or attempted murder," Chance rumbled deep in his chest. "I rather doubt the former."

"And you were the last person we know of to work on the car," Carter pointed out. "I really don't think you had anything to do with it, but do you remember her talking about anybody who _might_ have wanted to hurt her? Or seeing anything that might've said this wasn't the first try?"

"Not her, but I can think of a few," Chance nodded. "Folks who'd changed their mind on being filmed and didn't trust that she'd erased it, or that she didn't have anything to start with. A few folks here don't seem to believe that she _doesn't_ record every single thing that happens in this town. As for the car," he shook his head. "It was in pretty good shape, given how much water's around here. I'd have brought suspicions to you if I'd had them."

"That's good," Carter nodded. "I don't suppose you have any names for that? Or any idea how they _did_ get through the lines?"

"Brilliantly simple, actually," Henry piped up. "I'd guess a little H2SO4 on the lines near the batteries... if they hadn't used so much, I'd almost guess it _was_ an accident."

"H2S..." Carter prompted for the common name.

"Sulphuric acid," Henry supplied.

"Key word there is _acid_ ," Chance nodded as he finally placed it. "Nasty stuff to get hit with at those concentrations, and easy to get your hands on. Would have eaten through the lines fast."

"So it wasn't on there for long before she pulled out," Carter guessed.

"Fifteen minutes, tops," Henry agreed. "And another fifteen to get out here, that's a half-hour before the crash. That gives us at least _some_ sort of window to work with."

"Within the last hour," Chance nodded. "It also means that whoever did it either knew she was leaving close to when she did, or was very lucky. Just how badly hurt was she?"

"Concussion, knocked out, ribs are going to be hurting for the next week or two, possible internal bleeding," Henry rattled off the problems. "But I've seen a _lot_ worse. She'll be fine, unless whoever did this finds out where she is and tries something."

"Not going to happen," Chance flattened his ears and pulled out the cellular PDA he was still getting used to. Though the move couldn't be seen, the results on the rest of his face made it clear to those who knew him. The phone rang several times, then Jake finally answered. "Hi, sorry, but Cindy's car was sabotaged. Mind looking after her in the hospital until we work more of this out? Thanks buddy."

"He'll be there in a few minutes," Chance explained. "Can you call ahead and let them know?"

"I'm not -"

"Jake did _not_ do this to her," Chance said certainly. "He's been in his lab all day long."

"Okay," Carter nodded and placed the call as Chance and Henry began to really get into what had happened to the car, how long each stage would take and further into a realm Carter couldn't follow and was honestly shocked Chance could.

* * *

Cindy groaned softly as she started to wake up, her vision and brain both foggy as she tried to lift her hand, only to be told not to by the shrill beeping of the IV monitor strapped to her wrist.

"Despite that, movement is good," a friendly, though not terribly familiar male voice commented. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I oughta be having the worst hangover of my life in the morning," she murmured, blinking and looking around, spotting Jake as her vision cleared. "What... happened? I remember losing control of the car...."

"Hit a tree, I understand. Did quite a number, but nothing that won't be fixed by the time you're turned loose," he said. "Who'd want to kill you?"

"Want to... nobody _I_ know of," Cindy said incredulously. "My brakes just went... brakes and steering. Probably just something Chance missed, I figure."

"First, that would never happen," Jake informed her. "Second, the brake line had been almost completely eaten through. This was intentional."

"Okay, but there's nobody out there who'd have a _reason_ to want to kill me," Cindy pointed out. "Not seriously enough to _do_ it. I've pissed a few people off, but never to the point where they _meant_ it when they said they'd want to kill me."

"Somebody did," Jake reminded her. "If you aren't the cause, hurting you is to get at someone else."

"Might be Alex," she murmured, thinking about it. "Not like we're that close, but I'm the closest to a girlfriend he's had in years... I just don't know anybody who'd want to hurt him either."

"Anyone upset about your videos?" Jake asked quietly, then glanced up as Chance came into the room.

"Well, if you guys aren't interested in being distributed anymore, I know somebody who's _gonna_ be," Cindy giggled slightly, shifting in her bed with a groan. "Seriously... I think Dr. Jones might be pissed off at me, I just don't think she'd do anything like _this_ ."

"How are you feeling?" Chance sat down by the bed and put a hand on her arm.

"Like I'm probably going to _really_ hate it when the painkillers wear off," she admitted. "If I give you the number, can you call out to the studio and tell 'em I won't be able to make it, but I'll make another appointment ASAP?"

"Sure, as long as you don't try too soon," he said seriously. "You got lucky. Your car's a real mess."

"I'll bet," she nodded. "I'll give it at least a few days," she promised him. "Fortunately, it's just setting up a new camera system, not acting, so...." She winked playfully.

"If it was acting, you'd be out more than a few days," he glared at her, though it was clear he was more worried than anything.

"Did you find out anything else?" Jake looked at his partner.

"Couldn't have happened more than an hour or so before I got the call, and whoever did it _did_ try to make it look like an accident. At the same time... they were pretty sloppy about it. Might have just been trying to scare you, instead of kill you, but I wouldn't bet on it."

"Some someone who knew the technical end, but not the practical application," Jake nodded. "Sounds like any of the few we've come up with. Any suspects from your end?"

"Only that sulphuric acid is really easy to come by here and it was definitely used. Henry's going over the car in more detail now, I just had to check in first," Chance glanced at Cindy. "We'll figure this out, but you might want to turn on all the cameras inside and outside your place until then."

"And my lab," she nodded. "Last thing I need is one of my remotes to come and try to blow up my head."

"Right," Chance nodded. "Just try and keep thinking about who might be behind this. The sheriff is doing his best."

"Don't get me wrong, but I'm glad you guys are helping too," she smiled slightly. "Think my car's salvageable, or am I in the market for a new one?"

"I'd have called it scrap, and not even very useful scrap, but Henry says he'll have it fixed by the time you can drive again," Chance said dubiously. "We'll see in a few days, I expect."

"Henry'll probably have it working fine and I'll have to check it for 'improvements' before I go," she giggled. "Thanks for coming by, both of you," she said seriously, reaching over to squeeze Chance's hand with her free one.

"Sounds like what Callie said about us," Jake chuckled. "So who's standing guard when?"

"I don't _think_ anybody's going to try breaking in here to polish me off _in the middle of GD medical,_ " Cindy pointed out dryly. "You two go enjoy what's left of your night, okay?"

The two toms glanced at each other.

"She's got a point," Jake said.

"If anything _does_ happen though," Chance said, looking at Cindy seriously, "you're not getting rid of us except when you need the bathroom."

"You know, _some_ folks might take that sort of attention the wrong way," she teased.

"No one who knows him," Jake snickered. "Come on hot-shot, let her get some rest."

* * *

Melody looked around as she headed back into GD's Biological Sciences division, glancing at name plaques and people as she looked for the person she wanted to see. Before long, she spotted the plaque that marked Dr. Cather's office, and she knocked on his door lightly. When he opened it and looked down at her, the surprise on his face was obvious.

"Hello, Quin, it's been forever," Melody grinned. "Mind if I come in?"

"Umm, sure," he stepped back to let her in. "I didn't know you were in Eureka."

"Just started working here a couple months ago," she explained, stepping into his office. "Would have looked you up sooner, but I was busy," she said apologetically, adjusting her purse on her shoulder. "How've you been?"

"Quite well," he said a bit nervously. "Eureka is quite a place to work."

" _You're_ wound up," she giggled, sitting down in his guest chair. "Maybe I need to help you loosen up again some time?" She asked him with a teasing wink.

"No need," he said hurriedly. "I'm fine. What did you come by for?"

"Lighten up," she giggled. "I just wanted to see an old friend... I don't know _anybody_ around here, practically. There was one little favor I was hoping I could bug you for, but it shouldn't be any trouble."

"You'll meet folks soon enough. Hang out at Cafe Diem. Just about everyone goes there."

"True," she nodded. "And I've been working on it, it's just getting used to a small town... you know how it is, you haven't been here too long yourself," she said easily. "Suppose I should get that favor out of the way... you still working on the pheromone sprays you were talking about back at Biotronics?"

"Yes," he nodded and sat down. "And true, it's a bit odd around here, even for a corporate think-tank. It's kind of nice to be surrounded by folks who don't glaze over or look at you odd when you say you're a scientist."

"Yeah," she nodded. "Think you could put one together that mimicked a specific person's pheromones, if you had something to work with? And what sort of 'something' would you need?"

"I could," he said a bit uneasily. "Why would you want to?"

"Oh, just a little prank," she giggled. "So what _would_ you need?" She repeated.

"I'm not interested in being part of a prank, Melody," he said firmly.

"Mmm ... too bad," she sighed, standing up and walking over to his desk, moving around behind him as she pulled a DVD out of her purse, took it from the case, and slid it into his computer. 

"Humor me," she said as he turned to move her away and take the DVD from the computer. "Just for a few minutes."

He looked at her suspiciously, but allowed the movie to begin. Within seconds, his expression went from suspicious to horrified.

"So... just how _is_ your wife these days, Quin?" Melody asked him lowly as he watched the video of the night after the company Christmas party, when he'd gone home with her and spent the night completely and blissfully at her mercy. "And does _she_ know about this little... mistake of yours yet?"

"She is doing quite well," he murmured. "And yes, she knows. She even forgave me."

"Magnanimous of her," Melody mused. "Of course, maybe she realizes it's because she wouldn't give you what you _really_ wanted... so I suppose you wouldn't mind if I told you that I have another copy of this for her?"

"This is over more than a practical joke," he glared at her.

"Mmm ... maybe," Melody allowed. "But look at it this way. If you do what I want, you never have to hear about this again... though I'll leave you that copy for your own personal pleasure, if you like. You get me what I want, and I'm out of your hair, for good... unless, of course, you want me in something else some time. You don't have to know what I'm doing, and you don't need to ever mention this to your wife ever again. After all, it's not like I could do anything illegal with the spray."

"I'll need a sample of her pheromones," Dr. Cather sighed in resignation, even as he promised himself to turn her in to Sheriff Carter for blackmail, his reputation be damned, if she didn't keep her word.

"Any particular way you want it?" Melody asked.

"A urine sample would be optimal," Dr. Cather told her simply.

"I'll get you something like it," Melody said simply. "And don't worry. I keep my word... won't tell your wife one little thing about this. You want a repeat... you know where to reach me," she winked, leaving the video run as she slung her purse back over her shoulder.

She heard it turn off before she had opened the door, her mind going over just how to get what she needed from Marie.

* * *

"How long have we been in there?" Marie asked, checking her watch with her clothes, her swimsuit still dripping.

"About two hours, I think," Chance said as he shook himself down, water spraying everywhere. "I hope you know, I blame you for this," he grinned at her, Jake still below the surface of the water of Eureka's lake and showing no signs of getting bored with it despite the cold water and cool air.

"You're the one who let me in on this kink," she countered with a wink. "I still can't believe he's more interested in swimming with this thing than sex."

"Just wait until we go back down there actually interested in it," Chance chuckled. "I swear, if it weren't for the fact that I _still_ don't really like swimming, he'd never have let me out of the pool back home after I learned how."

"Now this is weird," she murmured, looking around.

"What?"

"Oh... seems my panties disappeared," she shrugged. "Probably some animal ran off with 'em... maybe some local pervert," she added, rolling her eyes. "I know they're out there."

"True," Chance grabbed one of the large warming towels they'd brought with them and began to rub himself dry and warm again. "It's not like Jake'll care," he added with a wink.

"Hell, he'll prefer the easy access," she giggled. "Mmm... maybe I should get a bikini though, the tail hole we worked into this isn't that comfortable."

"You won't get any complaints from me," Chance grinned lustfully at her and stepped closer. "You know how much I like having a sexy fem around."

"Mmm... relax, Stripes," she giggled, reaching out to scritch his chest lightly. "Just because I'm not wearing panties doesn't mean I'm looking to get nailed out here where whoever took 'em can watch. Speaking of watching, how's Cindy doing?"

"They aren't letting her out for a couple more days, but she's pretty much recovered," he kissed her cheek. "Lucky for her, the car didn't catch fire when it crashed."

"Thank God," Marie shuddered. "I wish you guys had called me when you found out... I would've gone to see her."

Chance blinked, then ducked his head. "Sorry, forgot you two are friends."

"Don't worry about it," she smiled. "It'll work out. So, any more news on what happened?"

"Not much. It's definite sabotage, there was less than a fifteen minute window in which to do it and no one seems to have a clue who'd want to hurt her that bad. Carter's running down alibis for dozens of folks who might not have been happy with her, but none really look hot."

"Y'know... I almost wonder if it might not be connected to you," Marie pointed out. "First that bit with Melody, now Cindy?"

"Yeah, but Melody did it to herself," Chance pointed out. "Besides, if it was her playing jealous psycho, wouldn't she have gone after you or Jake?"

"Probably Jake... but that's what I was thinking about. I mean... it's Eureka. Who said she'd have to have jumped because she wanted to? If somebody was fucking around with her head, or used something to push her remotely...."

"You mean like Melody's the actual victim, and the rest a side result of someone going after her?" He frowned, though it would hardly be the first time he'd encountered such a thing. "How would Cindy fit into that pattern, though?"

"That's the tricky part," Marie admitted. "Of course... they're both in electronics related things. Might be somebody looking to off their competition."

"I've investigated stranger," Chance admitted. "Seen things that'd make it easy and damn near untraceable. If you're right, we have two attempted murders and two failures. Neither one were injured all that badly."

"And no second attempts," Marie nodded and sat down on her towel to watch the darkening sky and water that Jake was still in. "Which means it might just be wanting to get them out of the way for a little while, not killing them. Wouldn't mind if they died, but don't care that they didn't."

"It'll be something to tell Carter once we get Jake out of the water," Chance said and sat down next to her. "He's probably already thought of it, but he seems pretty cool about taking ideas from others."

"A lot better than that guy you dealt with, huh?" She giggled slightly, remembering the rants she'd heard about Commander Feral.

"Yeah," Chance chuckled with her. "But it'd be cruddy hard not to be," he looked out on the lake. "Think we should try to fish him out yet?"

"Mmm ... you snag his trunks, we both tire him out?" Marie suggested with a giggle.

"Sounds like an idea to me," he grinned broadly. "These things do make water sex a lot more pleasant."

"That they do," she giggled, grabbing hers and putting the breather back over her nose. "Let's go fetch a kat-fish," she grinned.

"Might want to leave the suit out here," Chance pointed out and stripped his own shorts off. "Unless you want to lose it in the lake."

"Mmm ... and I suppose it _would_ be a pain to try and get him to just cut a strategically placed slit," she giggled, stripping it off and following Chance back towards the lake.

"Okay, Jake, where _are_ you?" Chance called out through their underwater comms, the dark water making visibility iffy even with the goggles on.

"Near the bottom," Jake replied. "Go ahead and go home. I'll be back before breakfast."

"If we come down there for a bit first, are you gonna mind?" Marie asked, trying not to giggle as she through about how he might react to what they had in mind.

"Nope," he answered.

The two of them found their way down, using the trackers installed in their collars to find Jake on the bottom. Given he wasn't actually trying to avoid them, it was fairly simple.

Chance swam down, snagging Jake's waistband as the cinnamon-furred tom started to swim off.

"Hey!" Jake twisted slightly to look at him, startled by the move.

"We're wondering what it'll take to make this go down for a bit," Marie told him, moving to kiss him as she reached down to fondle his rigid shaft as Chance removed his trunks the rest of the way.

Jake didn't answer with anything more than to wrap his arms around her and returned the kiss with a fierce hunger that made her shudder.

"This'll be fun," Chance grinned at the pair before he got up against Jake from behind and rubbed his own hard cock against his mate's ass.

Before long, they were all rather more focused on giving their breathers a test that hadn't really been planned.


	12. Crash Tests

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written with Karl Wolfemann

"Why are you two running the test flight today?" Marie asked Jake as he and Chance headed down towards the still-experimental Turbokat.

"Because we want to do our own assessment of it, and the only real way to do that in from inside the cockpit," Chance told her.

"Figures," she sighed. "Look... would you at least wear the force fields?"

"Marie, she's done just _fine_ for Davis on a dozen fights, she'll be fine for us," Chance reassured her. "No reason she shouldn't be."

"I've never built anything that Chance couldn't handle," Jake pointed out, his pride a bit on the line. "This one's even simpler than most."

"It's not that I don't think you guys can handle it," Marie said softly. "I just... I've got a bad feeling about this, okay? Maybe I'm just nervous, but would wearing the fields really be a problem?"

"You're reading _way_ too much into that conversation last night," Chance rolled his eyes.

"No, it wouldn't be that big a deal," Jake consented, somewhat to Chance's surprise.

"Please do, then?" Marie asked them both. "I mean... it probably won't make a difference, but it'd be a _really_ bad day for somebody's weather satellite to go haywire while you were out there or something."

Jake stopped and turned to face her. "You're really scared, aren't you?" He caressed her cheek lightly.

"Yes," she said, not hesitating for a moment. "I don't know what it is, but... yes, I am."

"All right, we'll wear them," he consented. "I'll see that Chance even turns his on," he grinned a bit teasingly at his partner.

"All right, all right," the tabby groaned good-naturedly. "Just you wait and see, everything'll be fine, and you'll be feeling like an idiot when we get back."

"If I am, and nothing goes wrong, you've got me for whatever you want as soon as we're all off the clock," Marie promised with a half-grin of challenge.

"This'll be fun," Chance grinned at his partner. "I think those white leathers are clean."

"Yap," Jake grinned back. "Come on, let's get those shield-things and take her out for a ride."

Marie chuckled, heading up to the observation room. She honestly hoped she _would_ have to 'pay up.' It'd be _so_ much better than having to help them recover from whatever might happen out there.

* * *

"You have _no_ resistance to that woman," Chance complained good-naturedly as they detoured for the armory.

"I told you that before I'd even kissed her," Jake pointed out.

"Yeah, well, it's just been confirmed," Chance chuckled.

"Oh like you _wouldn't_ have agreed after she made _that_ promise," Jake smirked.

"No changing the subject," Chance pouted playfully and grabbed two of the field generators after Jake unlocked the door. He waited for Jake to sign them out, then handed the second one over after the armory was locked again.

"Just pointing out the truth," Jake winked. "Come on, they won't be that bad to wear."

"I know," Chance shrugged, pulling his on. "Just hope it doesn't screw around with the electronics or anything."

"They won't," Jake assured him. "Both systems have been tested, and the human pilots here wear a more limited version of this in their flight suits to improve their G-tolerances."

"Well, let's get in the sky then," Chance chuckled as he settled into the only slightly detectible sensations of the force-field body armor. "Give that bird the shakedown she deserves."

"The kind only we can give, with real landscape," Jake grinned up at him. "Plenty of badlands to play in just east of Eureka."

"Good," Chance chuckled as they did a final exterior check of the jet for issues before they jumped on board to begin the cockpit preflight checks. "Kinda miss the canyons from back home, really."

"With this lady, you'll be able to fly anywhere without any risk of detection," Jake grinned before finishing his checks. "She's got better stealth than the last one, even if other areas are lesser."

"Good," Chance said. "'Cause we don't have Zed around here to patch up the jammer. So, why don't we head out for a quick patrol?"

"Good to go," Jake nodded.

"Great," Chance grinned, taking off to show off a series of loops and spins over Eureka before opening the engines up and streaking towards the east. "What sort of towns we have out where we're headed, if anything?"

"Nothing bigger than a couple hundred folks, most don't have fifty," Jake summed it up. "It's badlands."

"Yeah, and I wouldn't've thought they'd build a -" The jet wrenched off to the right, then quickly to the left. Chance grabbed the stick hard, trying to fight it, but nothing seemed to be able to keep it steady. "Shit!"

"Keep us airborne," Jake said as he frantically worked the controls he hand to find out what was causing this and stop it.

"I'll do my best," Chance said, jerking the stick back as it fought to rip itself from his hands. "I think she's decided she doesn't like me!" He called back to Jake. "Rudder's all over the fucking place!"

"She's not that advanced yet," Jake called back as he fought his own battle with the code and controls that weren't really meant to be used in flight. "She _can't_ hate you."

"That's not exactly helping right -" Chance stopped as the plane's jerking suddenly stopped for the most part. "Oh _shit_ ," he swore quietly as he realized what had happened. "Jake, what the _Hell_ are we over?"

Jake could only look out the gyrating cockpit to find out.

"Cruddy hell," he cursed softly. "Big building."

"Whatever you've gotta do, get it so we don't crash into it," Chance said seriously. "We just lost the main rudder."

"Full thrusters, _everything_ ," he said sharply, a plan as desperate as any he'd had. "Pray the armor works."

"What?" Chance asked even as he did as he was told, the force of the engines plastering them to their seats.

"Ejection system's down," Jake closed his eyes, internally braced for the impact that should kill them in a stretch of forest no one should be in. Several miles past the building they were trying to avoid, he knew they would leave a crater and shake the ground for miles around. "Love you."

"Love you too... if we live through this, we're gonna owe that girl _so_ damned much," Chance grunted, bracing himself for impact. He fought the urge to do _something_ to try and save the jet, and themselves, himself for the brief seconds before he watched the nose crumple against the ground even as the soil and tree roots gave way to the power and strength of the jet's frame.

"Sweet Bastet," Chance gasped as it sank in that the cockpit was still somewhat intact and completely underground. He didn't wait for anything more before he killed the engines, halting their downward drilling into the earth, but not before the jet's frame gave in and collapsed.

"No!" Jake all but screamed, honest terror echoing in Chance's ears before they were cut off from each other by the earth that flooded into the shattered cockpit.

Chance wrenched himself out of his seat as well as he could, pulling dirt out of the way as he tried to get back to Jake. Unfortunately, the force fields didn't keep them from being buried, but it had made the rest of the process painless.

"I _so_ never want to do that again," he muttered to himself and tried to 'swim' through the fairly loose dirt, clawing his way up and back, the path behind him collapsing as soon as his feet left it. "I am never going to ignore that girl's bad feelings again," he promised the universe at large.

He was also never going up in another jet without his Glovatrix handy. If he'd had that on, he was sure something could've gotten them out of this a _lot_ easier than digging.

Chance froze as something crashed into his head with a crackle of energy against energy, then the other object stilled.

"Chance?" Jake's very shaky voice called out, muffed by the earth but still very much there.

"Right here," Chance called back even as it sunk in that air was a definite limiting factor at the moment. The soil was loose, but it was hot and the air was hard to get a lungful of consistently. "Keep goin'."

"Right," Jake answered before falling silent and scratching his way up, ignoring the way his heart was pounding or the near-mindless terror that kept threatening to take him over. Fresh air was just a bit above him. They weren't _that_ far down. They couldn't be.

Chance helped as he could, pushing Jake and pulling the dirt further away. Finally, mercifully, he broke through to the surface, the light and fresh air a merciful gift as he heard the sound of a siren approaching.

Jake was kneeing a few feet away, holding himself tightly, when Chance dragged himself the rest of the way out of the earth, and he knew that huddled up trembling a little too well.

"We made it, Jake," he said as he moved the few feet to his partner's side, and privately cursed the force fields now as they kept the pair several inches apart. "Come on, let's get to cool ground."

Jake looked up and over, his brain taking a moment to work out the words, then he nodded and stood, still a bit shaky.

Once they were a ways off, Chance turned off his field, knowing that Jake would have to get his own.

"Okay, _that_ was not fun," he said, hoping to get Jake's mind onto the issue of what had happened, rather than being buried. "Have you and Stark been tweaking with things?"

"Daily," he nodded and shuddered before he turned off the force field. "Mostly navigation though. It shouldn't have done that. He always triple-runs changes in the sims before they're uploaded to a real jet. We weren't even doing anything that extreme."

"Well we're gonna have to figure out what the bug was before we can do this over again," Chance decided, looking back at the wreckage. "And ah... completely rebuild the jet."

"Rebuilding will be the easy part," Jake glared at the crumpled remains as Henry, Carter, Jo, Taggart, Marie and at least a dozen GD workmen arrived. "I _am_ going to find out what did that."

"Are you two okay?" Marie asked as she jumped out of the ambulance that was at the lead of the vehicles, running towards them both and hugging Jake tight once a quick look told her he was.

"Shaken, but okay," he murmured, only just stopping himself from melting into the contact. "Shields saved both our lives. You saved both our lives."

"Thank God I talked you guys into it," she murmured, hugging him again as Stark walked up to them.

"What happened?" He asked as the heavy machinery started up to retrieve the wreckage.

"The rudder control went crazy, then it snapped completely off," Chance supplied grimily. "Would have landed a bit more gently, but it would have put us square in the middle of whatever building's back there," he motioned in the general direction they'd flown from.

"Retirement home," Marie supplied softly.

"Hope the rudder didn't hit anything important," Chance said softly. "Or any _one_ , period."

"Nailed a fire hydrant, but it's under control," Carter offered.

"It's a good thing you were flying," Stark said as he surveyed the damage. "Why didn't you eject once you were clear of the buildings?"

"The system was locked down," Jake told him. "Someone's messed with her, and we've very lucky it wasn't fatal."

"Seems likely, though it's _possible_ that something just malfunctioned," Stark warned him. "She _was_ a prototype, after all."

"Possible," he consented, though barely. "In twenty-nine years of building and flying them in a war-zone, I've _never_ had a malfunction that made one unflyable."

"You've been building them to higher standards than this one," Stark offered, though he knew the feeling. "I know it's not something you want to have be true, but just keep in mind that it is an option. This _will_ be looked into."

"Given the only changes since the last test fight are ones you worked on as well, it seems even more unlikely this was a design flaw," Jake added, even as he didn't really try to hide the hurt at seeing his creation smashed to bits. "We weren't even working on the gross rudder controls."

"I agree that it isn't a likely scenario," Stark nodded.

"You know, if this _is_ sabotage, it's a criminal matter," Carter offered.

"And, if we determine that it is, we'll be in touch with you," Stark brushed him off. "Until then it is an internal matter."

"Any progress on who tried to kill Cindy?" Chance asked Carter as they moved away from the wreck.

"Only that every suspect with a reasonable motive has an air-tight alibi," Carter sighed. "Not that that necessarily means they couldn't have done it, around here."

"Which means they either wanted to hurt her _badly_ , or we're looking at a non-obvious suspect," Chance nodded. "Have you looked into anything that might link hurting Cindy as a way to get back at someone close to her ... or perceived as close to her? Or maybe a link between Melody and Cindy. Or something less direct."

"We're looking into it," Carter nodded. "Of course, this is the only town in the world where somebody could have done that by accident too... I dunno, flipped the wrong switch on the wrong gadget somewhere and started randomly turning air into acid."

"Even if it's that ... it's worth knowing it," Chance said. "If you could use any help, I'll be at loose ends for a few weeks," he motioned towards Jake and the vexed look the Kat had as he regarded the jet being dug out of the charred earth.

"Thanks," Carter chuckled slightly. "I just might take you up on that."

"Thanks," Chance offered his hand a bit uncertainly. "You've made me remember what I saw in the Enforcers as a kit."

"I'm not entirely sure, but I'll take that as a good thing," Carter smiled, shaking Chance's hand firmly. "You get Jake on home and rest up a bit; you deserve it after that crash. We'll sort the rest of this out and call you if we need anything."

"I'll see what I can do," Chance cast a glance at his partner and cracked a grin. "Could be a tough one getting him away from that jet."

"I'll leave that to you," Carter chuckled and turned his attention to helping out with collecting remains and taking pictures of the area. It wasn't really a crime scene, not yet, but he didn't doubt it would be eventually.

* * *

Jo lowered herself to all fours, her giant form utterly silent as she padded through Beverly's home to the back meeting room with its darkened lights and expanses of windows for Taggart to keep an eye on things through. The flicker of candles provided enough illumination for the human to see by, and still gave a Jo an instinctive security of knowing she had the sensory advantage even in sight.

She'd never really bothered to think about why, even when Beverly had asked. It was just the way things were. This form, the killer, was a beast of the night and felt more comfortable in the near-darkness. She knew Beverly lit the candles and turned off the electric lights because the more relaxed she was, the more likely she was to actually talk, and talking was why she was here.

Not that she wanted to, but right now she was under direct orders to cooperate with Beverly, Taggart, Moreau, and anyone else involved in the current events that had her stuck in this form ... and the event that would likely allow her to turn back into her human one.

Her holo-belt was off, and Taggart was waiting for her outside ... and she was sure listening in to some extent. She honestly didn't mind. She'd rather he knew these secrets than Beverly. Something about the woman set her hackles up.

"Hello, Jo, make yourself comfortable," Beverly said when Jo's large form stepped into the back room. "How are you doing?"

"Really starting to prefer four legs when I can get away with it," she admitted, knowing the young growing inside her would be the primary topic. They frequently were. "Balance is awkward with all the extra weight up front."

"I imagine it's quite a strain," Beverly nodded. Even in the dark and against Jo's great frame, when the woman laid down to relax, her 'puppy belly' ran from her crotch to the top set of four sets of breasts and distorted the sleek lines of three months before. It was a marked difference from three months before when she didn't have any visible breasts. "While you're around here, feel free to do so, of course. I make sure I've got at least fifteen minutes for my last appointment to run over or clear out before yours starts."

"It will be much more before they are born," Jo shrugged. "Dr. Moreau says they are less than half grown," she tried not to grumble too much.

"Have you put any thought into when you'll be going on maternity leave? Or adapting your holo-belt so that it's not a complete shock to people when you eventually have children?"

"They won't be mine," she said simply and stretched out a bit. "They are going to be born in crinos, possibly stuck in crinos for life. They'll 'belong' to the Moreaus and Taggart. _If_ they can turn into humans, _if_ they are capable of socializing with humans, and _if_ I decide to, it will be by adoption to everyone but those who already know."

"How do you feel about the alternatives? With the first two," Beverly clarified. She already knew full well that Jo didn't have a problem with giving them up ... it had all but been her idea, something she had agreed to with a lot of coaxing from Taggart instead of aborting the 'abominations' in the first couple weeks after confirming her pregnancy.

Jo almost said her first reaction, but held back, knowing that Jim would eventually hear. After a silent moment, she gave into her orders and told the absolute, unfiltered truth.

"I'll be relieved if they turn out to be animals," she admitted quietly.

"Rather than people by anybody's definition?" Beverly asked her carefully. "Even if they weren't as insane as Jaeger and the others?"

"If they turn out to be people, then Moreau will have to create more of us, create a new race and all that includes politically, or condemn them to live knowing they will never be able to have young of their own, and likely never be able to tell the truth of their existence to those around them. You know how I've lived, and I'm as integrated as possible." Jo flicked her gaze up, taking the older woman's measure. "Did Moreau tell you how long we will live, barring death by violence?"

"No, he hasn't," Beverly admitted. "How long, to the best of your knowledge?"

"Until the world ends," she held her gaze steady. "He created immortals with us. The crinos can heal from any wound, any disease, any injury, and if we're hurt badly enough, we can't even stop the transformation that will save our life if we want to die. It's a built-in reflex," her long hatred of that fact was clear in her deep voice. "I doubt the good doctor will confirm that directly, but he's also refused to deny it. We don't _age_ . I just turned forty-two, not that you'll find any documents to verify that. The only hope for not outliving everything is that the effects are much more limited in human and wolf form, but every time we transform to crinos, it resets us to our prime, what it _expects_ us to be, and I still can't control it."

"I'll have to speak to Dr. Moreau about that," Beverly murmured. It was well and truly outside the boundaries of her skills. "If there _was_ some way to change that, would you take it, and would it make what's happened to you easier to accept?"

"Yes and yes," Jo said without hesitation. "It won't change anything, but at least I'll only have a few decades to deal with and not centuries," she settled her long head on crossed forelegs, her eyes slowly closing. "I won't have so long to miss Jim."

"It might be something to bring up with the Moreaus," Beverly suggested. "If you'd like me to, I could. I don't suppose there's been any consideration of trying to apply the changes to Jim?"

Jo's answer to the first question was stopped dead by the absolute horror at what came after it.

"I take it that's a no, and you don't want there to be," Beverly said, not needing to guess. Even with canine facial features, it was blatantly clear what she thought. She had to admit to herself that she was lucky that Jo was too stunned to be angry. That was the kind of extreme reaction that could have turned extremely violent.

"I may have volunteered to become a Garou, but it is _no_ gift," Jo growled firmly. "The cons far outweigh the pros."

"I wouldn't have suggested it as a good thing, myself," Beverly nodded, trying to help Jo calm down a bit. "I was just wondering if it had come up."

"Not around me," Jo worked to settle herself, her fur eventually lying down after a bit of nearly unconscious grooming.

"Does Taggart know about how long you expect to live?"

Jo lifted her head and looked out the window to where she knew he was. "He does now," she said softly.

"If it comes to it, I'll do my best to help you both with it," Beverly offered. "Though it's a bit beyond my normal expertise. How is he holding up with the rest of it?"

"Better than I am, most nights," she admitted and shifted back into her lounge. "He's utterly convinced everything will be fine and things will return to normal, like nothing happened, only with a few more rather large mouths to feed."

"How is your sex life?" Beverly asked gently, broaching a subject that could sometimes turn volatile.

"Strange," Jo signed and put her head down. "He says he misses my human form, but he really doesn't seem to care."

"Does that bother you?"

Jo held still a very long time, something Beverly recognized as her trying to put words to something she couldn't articulate well, and possibly didn't really want to think about. She gave her all the time she needed. These were usually interesting statements, along with the occasional outbursts where Jo didn't think about what she said at all.

"He shouldn't be more accepting than I am," she finally managed.

"Why not?" Beverly asked her, leaning back in her chair, fairly sure it would take a while for the answer again.

Jo had to think again, something she truly hated about these sessions.

"It's my condition, my curse," Jo finally struggled to say.

"Should that make it easier for you to accept than for somebody else?"

Jo just stared at her for a long time, trying to work out something resembling an answer. Eventually it dawned on her what Beverly was driving at.

"Yes, no, it doesn't matter," she kind of shrugged, though she was looking down in submission and fully aware that Jim was listening. "I'm afraid for him, that he doesn't understand that I'm _not_ the same person in crinos as I am in human. Close, most days, but this form has instincts and reflexes he doesn't seem to take seriously."

"You _are_ talking about somebody who has worked with incredibly dangerous animals, even created them. He's seen what the Garou are capable of, and I'm sure he understands just how dangerous you can be, physically... has he actually taken chances that would trigger your reflexes without making sure it was as safe as possible, and that you have some level of control at the time?"

"As much as either of us understand how," she admitted reluctantly.

"It might be good to keep in mind that he _is_ very intelligent, and has made a career of dealing with dangerous animals... he may have a better grasp on what you're capable of doing than you think. What sort of contact do you think is warranted, and safe for him?"

"None," Jo answered simply.

"Would you like me to ask him to join us, see if we can sort something out here that'll make both of you feel better about this? I'm pretty sure you already know he won't be happy with that, unless he sees cause for it."

"So it's couple's counseling now?" Jo asked, then sighed as her ears perked up at something. "Why not. He's getting most of it anyway."

"This isn't really an issue I can help with without having him here too," Beverly pointed out, standing up. "I'll go let him in then," she said and stood to open the back door Jo could already see Jim walking towards in his full night hunting gear. As often as not they did go hunting after these sessions to help Jo relax and indulge her need to consume large quantities of meat, preferably still warm and whole.

"Thank you, Miss Barlow," Taggart inclined his head to the woman as he stepped inside.

"Things seemed to be going in a direction where having both of you here at once would help," she said easily. "I assume you heard most of it already?"

"Yes, Ma'am," he nodded as they entered the back room and Taggart knelt down to sit next to Jo's head, and soon found his place on the floor with Jo's large head in his lap and her arms curled lightly around him on the floor.

"I suppose I should start by getting straight to the point; Jo, you've already said you don't feel that Taggart's safe around you. What's your take on it, Jim?"

He looked down with an apology in his eyes as he stroked her head between her ears. "She doesn't trust herself enough to trust me," he summed it up simply. "She still doesn't really believe that she's the same person, regardless of form."

"And what do you think about what she's said about the difficulty controlling herself?"

"I have never seen her slip," he pointed out evenly. "Even when she doesn't recognize herself, the same core intentions guide her actions. I hunted her for years, not knowing who or what it was I was trying to capture. I dare to say I do understand her instincts in this form better than she does," he looked down and caressed her just above her eyes as she glared up at him. "You do not trust yourself because you do not understand yourself like this. I do understand you in crinos. I understand you."

"And do you believe that you are in any danger from her?"

"Not at long as I pay attention to what I already know," he said firmly. "She's quite capable of killing me. I also know how to recognize when not to approach her."

"You two realize I _am_ right here?" Jo asked grumpily.

"Sorry, love," Taggart murmured.

"I do realize it, but it can actually be a good thing if he doesn't," Beverly chuckled slightly. "Now that we've established how you both feel about it... does it change how either of you feels?" She asked, fairly sure that it wouldn't.

"No," Taggart said firmly. "I trust my knowledge and instincts."

"Not really," Jo said more quietly.

"You trust me, though," Taggart murmured into her fur as he leaned forward to kiss the top of her head. "Occasionally, at least."

"I want to," Jo sighed.

"Is there anything he could do that would help you trust his judgment more?" Beverly asked, taking the opening that Jo had left her.

Jo went silent and centered the world on her nose and the scent of her lover. Gradually her eyes closed, seeking a positive answer, struggling against the wall that Jim had articulated so effectively.

In the end, she could only give one thing.

"Keep not getting hurt," she gave what she could.

"I do my best," Taggart murmured, kissing her head again lightly.

"Is there anything else on this particular topic the two of you want to discuss? Or, as long as you're here Jim, anything else related specifically to the two of you?"

"Nothing I can think of," he said evenly, even as he began to plan for a romantic, sensual evening in the next few days, and perhaps pushing their intimacy a little more than he normally would.

"Well... I think this is actually a fairly good point to end today's session then," Beverly decided. "Unless there's anything else you'd like to talk about, Jo?"

"You know there isn't," Jo reminded her that she was only here and talking at all because of very strictly worded orders.

"Then let's go hunting," Taggart suggested with a scritch to her ears and smile before she stood on all fours and gave him a lick on the face as he got to his feet and they headed for the back door.

* * *

Jake was focused on a hand-sized piece of something that was probably once a circuit board, at least before it met the ground at several machs. This wasn't his favorite activity, especially not after ten days of doing things Stark's way, but there was definite progress to be seen. The main body was completely reconstructed, along with much of the internal workings, though they were still spread out until each piece could be identified and cleared of the cause.

Somewhere else Stark and his crew were busy with the flight recorder and the data Global Dynamics had recorded of the event, and he was happy to let them have it. Working with his hands was much more Jake's way, even when he had to do it someone else's way.

"How's it going?" A woman's quiet voice asked from behind him, snapping him out of his work. Looking back, he was surprised to see Melody there.

"Slow," he answered evenly, both on edge about their brief history and keyed up by the familiar warmth of the scents around her.

"Well... if I'm not interrupting too badly, I was wondering if I might talk you into dinner at the Cafe Diem? My way of saying sorry for the tantrum at your door? Chance isn't taking any calls about it."

Jake looked up and really looked at her, weighing the risks, her words, and his own desire to get the hell out of this hanger that was feeling more and more like the crypt of his child with every day that passed.

"Why not?" he finally decided and glanced at the clock that was prominently displayed on the wall. "I probably need to eat anyway."

"Probably," she giggled. "You _have_ been in here for a while. Maybe I can help you figure some of it out, if there's anything in there you're not sure about?" She offered.

"Right now we're still sorting out all the pieces," he shrugged as they headed out of the hangar. "It'll take weeks the way it's done here."

"There's paperwork for everything, and it all has to be filed in order," Melody agreed. "I can drive, if you'd like," she offered him as they left the hangar and started out for the car park.

"All right," Jake murmured, relaxing even as the back of his mind was fidgeting uneasily about being around her and how relaxed he was. "It's just a different investigative method too. I get more out of putting things back together than just naming what it was part of and how it got into the shape it's in," he shrugged. "It's the mechanic in me. Not many of my types around here it seems."

"I think I can understand that," she smiled, unlocking her car as they approached it. "You'll get to put it back together eventually, I'm sure."

"I always do, it's just been ages since anyone but Chance was looking over my shoulder while I was working," he chuckled and got into the passenger side, much more at ease there than Chance could ever be. "Not used to having a staff to 'help' either. Useful, but odd, almost tripping over folks and getting called 'sir' of all things."

"Nice though?" She asked him, climbing in and starting the car as she tried to be friendly.

"Haven't decided honestly," he admitted. "Last time I rated getting called that went ... badly. Never even got used to it there either. Three years it never did settle in."

"Well, maybe one of these days you'll get use to it," she said easily. "You rank pretty well in that area, from the sound of things."

"Pretty much second only to Stark," he nodded. "The Turbokat project _is_ my baby, and this crash was serious. It would have been a lot worse if a lesser pilot was at the controls, and likely fatal to both on board."

"Yeah... you're lucky you had Chance as the pilot," she nodded.

"I always have been," he smiled fondly thinking about his partner. "Feral thought I'd calm him down, turned out the other way around," he chuckled, honestly amused by the fact.

"You'd think somebody named Feral wouldn't worry about calming people down," she teased as they drove towards the Cafe.

"Only the folks with more testosterone than he has," Jake laughed easily. "He can't _stand_ anyone that's willing to challenge him, and Chance has always been willing."

"That sounds like Chance," she smiled fondly. "You really have a thing for him, don't you?"

"Yeah," he admitted despite the screaming in the back of his mind about admitting to any such thing to her. "We've been through a lot, and a long time together."

"Why don't you tell me about him?" She suggested as they pulled up in front of the Cafe Diem and parked.

"If you ever wanted a poster-kat for 'the hot shot pilot,' you have it in him," Jake grinned and got out of the car with her. "I don't think you could keep him out of the air."

"He just likes flying, or is it the way everybody treats him for it?"

"Flying," Jake shook his head. "Nobody else knew he did fly for something like the last 30 years."

"How'd he keep that covered up?" She asked him curiously as they headed in to get dinner.

"Lack of a license, his jet wasn't registered or held anywhere public, and probably a good bit of luck," Jake explained. "Back then that was the least of our secrets we had to keep. It would have just been a fine, most of the charges rated jail time."

"What did you guys _do_ ?" She asked, not honestly sure what she could think of that would jive with her mental image of the two kats.

"We flew combat, protecting our home city. Only after we got kicked out of the Enforcers, we didn't have permission to do so," he sort of explained. "Didn't stop us, but it make keeping the secret important."

"He didn't really strike me as the sort who worried too much about secrets," Melody mused. "Clearly something he can do though," she added with a smile. "So, what would you like for dinner?"

"With proper motivation," Jake nodded. "Chef's special," he chuckled.

"Living dangerously, huh?" She giggled, ordering two of them before they found a table to sit at. "You're lucky to have him, y'know?"

"I know," Jake relaxed in his chair. "I've never doubted it. He's my partner."

"Just your partner? Not something more?"

"There isn't anything more than 'partner', Melody," Jake said seriously. "We put out lives on the line for each other daily for our entire adult lives. There is nothing more serious to be to someone than their partner."

"What about their mate?" She pointed out.

"Often one and the same, but you don't put your life in your mate's hands every day," he pointed out and smiled thanks for the drinks that were delivered to their table. "I'm sure you'll find those that disagree, but in MegaKat City, in Enforcer circles, your partner tops your mate, sometimes even your kits for those that have them."

"So... are you and Chance?" She asked. "Mates, that is?"

"Yes," he smiled fondly, unconsciously fingering the soft collar on his neck. "All the way."

"So that's what the collar's for," she mused. "Kinda like rings for us?"

"Something like it," he nodded. "Other cultures use earrings, arm bands, anklets, head bands, even tattoos and scar-pattering. In MegaKat City, most seem to go with collars."

"I'd thought it was just ornamentation," she admitted. "Not that it meant something. So you're mates with him ... what's up with Dr. Moreau?"

"She my girlfriend," he said easily.

"Kinda like how Chance gets around a bit too? You both have girls on the side?" She asked, taking a long sip from her drink.

"Chance prefers to sleep around more than I do, and with girls more than I do, but yes," Jake nodded a bit, his glass already half empty. "It's how we agreed on it when we first got together. He prefers one-nighters, I tend to go for actually dating who I sleep with. It works for us."

"Seems to," she mused. "So, beyond flying, what sorta stuff is he into?"

"Helps me with the equipment, plays video games, watches cartoon, chases just about anything with tits," Jake snickered as two bowls of golden, blue and red chowder with crusty bread and a colorful green salad on the side. "He's a big kit in a lot of ways."

"A _very_ big one in some," she giggled. "Is Marie from your world too?"

"No, she's human," he shook his head and tasted the smoky, corn and bacon based chowder with hints of many spices and other meats. "She used genetic modification to turn herself into an anthro cat. Might look something like us, but she's all from Earth."

"Weird," Melody murmured. "So she came after you, huh?" She guessed with a bit of a grin.

"Pretty much," he nodded. "With Chance giving her tips all along," he rolled his eyes in tolerant amusement.

"Well it worked, it seems," Melody smirked. "So... how does it work out, between you and Chance? In private, I mean?"

Jake paused with the spoon half way to his mouth, then finished it as he struggled against answering. In the end, two bites later, he gave into the enticing smell surrounding him.

"The opposite as in the air," he answered as discreetly as he could.

"Y'like it that way?" She asked him in a low tone.

"Yes," he nodded slightly and shifted a bit. "This is wandering pretty far from an apology."

"Sorry," she said sheepishly. "I'm just curious about you two... I can honestly say I've never met anybody like you guys before, after all," she grinned. "Why don't I go get you another drink?" She offered, nodding towards his empty glass.

"All right," he nodded and watched her walk to the counter for a refill of their sweet-tea based drinks. Part of him was screaming to get out of here, but like with Marie, he ignored it as no longer necessary. He didn't have secrets to keep here and she was trying to be nice.

She was back in a few minutes, and gave him his drink with a smile.

"So... I hope you guys aren't too mad at me? I don't know what I was thinking, honestly."

"No," he shook his head and sipped the spicy-sweet tea between the last bites of the chowder. "Not mad. Just thought you really needed some time with Beverly."

"Well, I've been talking with her a bit," Melody admitted. "She's got a _lot_ people who need more work than I do though. Something about a werewolf."

"Yeah," Jake shuddered. "Eureka will be a long time recovering from that one."

"From what I heard, it sounds like it," Melody nodded and quickly finished her stew to even up with the state of Jake's bowl. "Glad I got here _after_ that mess, even if it wasn't by much."

"I usually wish we had managed to avoid it," Jake murmured, sipping his drink. "It was a hell of a thing to get involved in, especially with Marie being one of his targets. Damn near killed both of us."

"Ouch," Melody murmured, finishing her own chowder. "After you finish that, want to head back out to the car, I'll take you home?"

"Back to the hanger," he corrected with a nod. "There's too much work to do yet."

"Okay," she said easily and waited until he'd finished to stand and walk with him out to her car.

"Maybe home would be a good idea," Jake changed his mind as he wavered on his feet slightly while opening the car door.

"Works for me," she smiled, sliding in and watching him sit down. "You feeling okay?"

"I'll be fine," he buckled up and closed his eyes, trying to fight off the disorientation on top of the effects of Melody's scent that smelled so much like Marie.

"Okay," she said easily, pulling out. "Oh! I've got something Chance wanted me to give him after that night, I haven't had the chance to deliver it yet... would you mind if we spun by my place to get it?" She asked him sweetly.

"Sure, no problem," Jake nodded and leaned a little closer, towards the source of the deliciously enticing smell he didn't have the interest in fighting anymore.

She reached over with her free hand, rubbing his thigh lightly.

"It's not far," she reassured him with a small, private smile he didn't notice. She flicked her gaze down when something soft brushed against her hand and realized his tail had come into play.

"You've got nice fur," she observed as she turned her hand over and stroked the relatively long fur. She also took the opportunity to shift her hand a little closer to his crotch and the hard heat behind his jeans.

"Th-thank you," Jake looked rather startled, but didn't object.

"Come on," she said with a low, inviting tone, pulling up in the driveway outside of her house. "We'll just go get that thing for Chance, hmm?" She said, climbing out and coming around to get the door for him even as he got out himself.

"Okay," Jake nodded and followed her inside, only a touch unsteady on his feet.

"Did you enjoy your dinner?" She asked him as she closed the door behind him, privately reminding herself not to lock it just yet.

"Yes," he nodded as he took in her living room. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," she rumbled lowly, stepping up close behind him and sliding her hands down his back, appreciating the tight muscles he had despite his lean appearance. "Would I be wrong if I guessed you were interested in more than dinner and picking up that thing of Chance's?"

"Yes," he said initially, though it was something his body denied as he pressed into her touch a bit.

"This says different," she pointed out, reaching down to squeeze his full crotch firmly, drawing a low moan and shudder from him. "It'll be okay... I _do_ know all about you being a kat, after all, and what that involves. And I bet you'd just love some of my toys...."

Jake closed his eyes briefly, allowing her to press against his back and wrap her arms around him. "Melody ..." he struggled to put words to what he knew was going on even as she slowly stroked his erection through his jeans.

"Mmm?" she pressed her face against his neck, her arousal now mixing into her scent to make it all the harder for him to think.

"Not feeling right," he tried to explain what was going on.

"That would be because most drugs I've found around here seem to work on you too," she whispered into his ear, though loud enough for the recording equipment to pick up. "Shh ... just relax and go with it, I'll make you feel _so_ good...."

"Why are you doing this?" he pulled forward, only to have his lack of coordination combine with her grab for him land him on his back on the floor. "What did you use?" he demanded as his vision went blurry and his body responses sluggish.

"Does it matter what?" She asked him, shifting to straddle his hips, unbuttoning his shirt as he started losing the ability to fight back. "You'll be fine... I wouldn't want to have to explain a body to dear Chance. As for why... you've had him." She leaned down, her face in his as she nearly growled. "You've had him in a way he wouldn't let me share... so the next best thing is to have you, every way I can...."

She was cut off by a solid, if weaker than usual, punch to the chest as he tried to roll-kick himself to his feet once she was off him.

"You _are_ insane," Jake snarled and focused on getting out the door, and to the small emergency communicator in his pocket to alert Chance. He wouldn't be on his feet for much longer.

"Don't call me that!" Melody snapped and tackled him, knocking the communicator from his hand and sending it bouncing across the carpet. "I'm _not_ crazy! I just want what we _both_ want," she growled, reaching out to pin his hands to the floor. "I want Chance... and the sooner you stop fighting me, the sooner you can have a little fun with this too...."

"Being raped is never fun," he growled softly as he struggled until the drugs in his system made even recognizing the desire to resist impossible.

"It's not rape if you ask me for it," Melody pointed out, leaning down to kiss his neck, nipping it possessively. "You know you want this...." she crooned when he pressed into the contact and moaned softly. "That's it," she continued as the drug began to hit the second phase of its effects. "Soon the disorientation will pass and leave you with a clear head, fine reactions, and utterly unable to say no."

She shifted off of him, rolling him to his back and undoing his shirt, then his belt and pants, pulling them off and kissing her way down his neck and chest while he couldn't resist.

"You'd be _so_ much more handsome with a bit more meat on you," she murmured, even as she nuzzled his groin lightly, licking his rigid cock teasingly. She grinned when he moaned and lifted his hips a bit to encourage the contact. She kept an eye on his face, especially his eyes, as the grogginess cleared into raw, unfiltered sexual need flared to the surface.

"You will worship me, by the time I'm done with you," she promised undoing her own belt and stripping down the rest of the way. She pulled him up, pressing his muzzle against her slick sex, scratching him lightly between the ears as he breathed her scent and nosed at the swelling flesh.

"Go on," she told him, "pleasure Mistress."

There was still hesitation, but soon he began to lick at her sex, his rough tongue taking her juices into his mouth with each stroke.

"Oh... good boy," she moaned, savoring the feel of his rough tongue on her pussy, the way it tugged at the short, blonde hairs there. "Very good start...."

She was quite startled when his hands grabbed just below her hips and jerked forward, knocking her off balance and landing her rather hard onto the carpeted floor. She was honestly too stunned, by his action and by hitting the floor, to react at all for a moment. It was all the time he needed to climb on top of her, force her legs a bit further apart and thrust into her slick sex with a groan.

Her first attempt at anything was muffed into an incoherent mumble as he forced his tongue into her mouth, taking it as he took her sex.

She moaned deeply, deciding privately to give him this one, but promising herself she'd be in control later.

She was going to have to read up on that drug a bit better in the future... but for now, the feeling of his textured shaft slamming into her dripping sex more than made up for the temporary change in her plans.

She tightened her body around him and shifted her hips up a bit so he rubbed against her clit with each thrust. A low whimper escaped her throat when he picked up the pace and the claws came out on the hands holding her hips.

Suddenly his jaws closed over her collarbone, the sharp points of his teeth puncturing the skin a bit as the first shot of thick, hot come soaked her insides.

She moaned, savoring the feel of his seed pooling inside of her even as she made herself turn to push his head back. In the shape he was in, she wasn't sure about encouraging that side of him at all... especially not given what she'd seen him do with Chance.

It earned her a low growl as his ears flicked back, but he didn't resist when she twisted and pushed to roll them over.

She kissed him, just as hard and hotly as he'd kissed her, starting to move herself on his shaft, rolling his barbs around inside of her as she pinned his hands down to the floor. It was very pleasing to feel him relax into and begin to turn submissive as she rode him. She doubted he was completely into her game yet, but he wasn't fighting her control anymore.

She'd work on more later.

She started to move up and down his rigid length, squeezing down around him skillfully as she leaned up, her breasts swaying above his face every time she bounced against him. She couldn't help but notice he didn't seem to care much about looking at her ample assets, for all he was clearly into fucking her.

Well, he _had_ said he preferred males.

"You're... mmm... all mine, tonight," she rumbled lowly, working him hard, trying to make him come again before she even thought about trying to get on top of him the way she really wanted to.

"All yours," he murmured, his hips thrusting hard against hers. Soon his eyes squeezed shut as he began to jerk upwards, her body and domination pushing him to the edge and over without resistance.

She felt his seed spurting into her, and moaned as her body tightened in an orgasm of her own as his hot, twitching cock rubbed against her g-spot.

After a few moments, she slid off him, his seed dribbling down her thighs.

"On your knees," she told him. "And stay there," she added, moving to the stand near the door and fetching the leash and collar she'd bought for tonight's little game. When she got back to Jake, he was on his hands and knees and looking at her hungrily.

"That's much better behaved than you were before," she rumbled, putting the new collar on his neck above the one Chance had given him, cinching it tight and fastening the leash. "C'mon, we're going to bed."

Three steps into the short walk, she noticed that while he was walking on all fours, he wasn't actually on his knees anymore. Despite the human build in appearance, he could apparently walk on all four feet with his back all but level.

Impressive, if a little weird.

She got him into her room, guiding him up onto the bed.

"Good boy... now, put your hands up by the headboard," she ordered him, fiddling briefly with his leash so she could tighten the collar by pulling on it the right way.

She wasn't completely sure he understood, but he stretched out in a blatant display of his body that put his wrists where she wanted them. In a quick movement she had his wrists bound to the metal frame.

She looked down at him, licking her lips ... and quickly decided to go the rest of the way. She fetched a blindfold and a bar-gag from her wardrobe. The gag, much like a horse's bit, was just small enough to let him make noises around it, but not enough to talk, despite being held open. She fitted the gag and blindfolded him, meeting only token resistance to the gag from surprise before he settled down again.

Melody ran her hands down his chest and cupped his balls in her hand briefly before she nudged him to roll over and get back on his hands and knees. For a reward, she reached down to rub the spot above his tail.

Jake moaned and lifted his tail, his legs stiffening to raise his ass further in offering.

She pulled the strap-on out from under her bed, quickly putting it on. The thick dildo, from Chance's casting, was the same one she'd used with Cindy, complete with the tiny metal caps on the barbs.

"Mine," she rumbled, shifting to press the strap-on up into his ass, not bothering to lube it up as she forced her way into his guts. It was an easy penetration, his body willingly and eagerly accepting the intrusion as he began to push back against her thrusts in an eager display that put most of her former lovers to shame.

"Do you like this, pussy-kat?" She asked him with a low, amused tone, fondling his balls as she started thrusting, savoring his low, submissive moans. If she hadn't known what she'd done to him, she'd never have thought that he didn't really want it.

Of course, that she was doing what usually happened to him during sex probably helped.

"Roll over," she suddenly ordered, the dildo still deep inside his body as he did as he was told. She lifted his legs and watched his face as she began to fuck him hard with the dildo modeled after his mate's cock and grinned at the ecstasy there and so clear in his groin.

"Let's see if you like this," she rumbled, reaching back to turn the tiny knob on the base of the strap-on. With Cindy, she'd only used the lowest levels... but for Jake, she cranked it straight to full power, able to imagine the first cracks of electricity along his ass as the power stored in the battery in her strap-on arced from one metal stud to another inside his body, across his prostate.

His bar-gag barely stifled the scream, and did nothing to stop the convulsions centered on his hips that quickly spread across his body as he lost all control of his voluntary nervous system to the pulsing charge.

Before Melody'd even thrust into him twice more he came hard, squirting seed across his belly and chest with a mixture of grunts, cries and screams of pain.

She swore she heard a muffled begging for 'more' in there too.

She grinned, fucking him harder, faster, reaching up to undo part of the gag, tipping it up. God she loved this part of it, once they'd finally given up entirely.

"What was that?"

"More," he gasped out between the grunts and cries the charges drew from him. " _Hurt_ me."

She grinned, reaching down and taking his balls in one of her hands, squeezing them tightly as she took him, his entire body wracked with pain from the inside out.

It kept him hard and crying, the begging intermittent when he could manage that much, and Melody reveled in having a male under her that was such a perfect masochist. Even with his pleasure, she knew she couldn't keep it at least level for much longer, at least not with electricity.

Reluctantly she pulled out of his ass to leave him collapsed on the bed and gasping for breath.

"So my little pussy-kat," she leaned over him after turning the dildo off. "What other kinds of pain will you beg for?"

"Whip," he tried to reached up and lick her face. "Blade."

"Both?" She asked him, raising an eyebrow. She hadn't thought she'd have a chance to use that particular toy, but if he was up for it....

"Yes," he shuddered in anticipation as he caught his breath.

She went over to the wardrobe, pulling out her finger-blades and a long whip with short, sharp blades worked into its length before coming back to the bed. She took his blindfold off; she wanted him to know _exactly_ what he was begging for.

His eyes went right for it, then to her fingers. His entire body began to tremble, but there was no fear in him, only desire bordering on need that had very little to do with the drugs in his system.

"Do you know what this will do to you?" She crooned, fingering the bladed whip.

"Yes," Jake voice was barely more than a moan, his throat tight in his hunger for what she was offering.

She sat it aside, straddling his hips and rubbing his cock between the cheeks of her ass. She ran her bladed 'claws' down his chest, leaving tiny furrows in his fur.

"You want it, don't you?" She rumbled, pressing down, starting to cut into his chest.

"Yes!" he hissed, the pain clear in his voice, just as the erotic nature of it was clear in the way his hard cock twitched against her ass. "Oh yessss."

"Do you want inside me?" She asked him, dragging the cuts out longer, his cinnamon fur stained a darker crimson above her path. "Mmm ... or want me inside you again?"

"Fuck me, please," he begged shamelessly, his hard muscles twitching as the cuts continued down to his abs.

"You are _such_ an eager little slut," she grinned, moving back, bending his cock down painfully before sinking the strap-on into his ass again, turning the electricity on again, almost as high as the last time. 

Jake gasped and clamped his ass down around the electrified intruder. As she slid her bladed fingertips down his abs towards his cock and sheath, it was more than he could take and he came with an almost startled shout, his seed splashing against her wrists.

With a grin she leaned forward, sliding one of the blades beneath the skin on his side, making a shallow, oval-shaped wound beneath his skin. It didn't feel as hard to push around as she'd expected, and while he screamed and pulled away a bit, it wasn't nearly as sharp a reaction as most gave her for it.

Still, his cock stayed hard and he kept rocking against her hips as best he could with what little self-control he had left.

She wrapped her other hand around his cock, tracing thin lines of blood spiraling up and down his length as she carved a bit of skin away, marking him with a stylized musical note on his side that would be guaranteed to scar at some point.

Hardly the first scars he'd have, it looked like. Most he probably said were battle scars, and might even be, if he'd really been on the front lines for thirty years, but there was no way a couple of them could be anything but the mark of an owner on their pet. The one that looked like the outline of a stylized face-on cat's head of sorts was definitely not from an accident.

"A true pity you aren't more of a looker," she crooned even as she felt his cock pulse under his fingers and his fingers tighten into fists that dribbled blood onto the pillow under his hands. "You get off on this more than anyone I've found yet. _Almost_ as sweet as Chance is ... do you want me to hurt you more, pretty little pussy?" She asked, tightening her grip around his cock, blood flowing freely over her hand even as he willingly thrust against the blades cutting him.

"Yes," he groaned, right on the edge of coming again. "Please, whip me."

"Since you asked nicely...." She grinned viciously, tracing a slash around the very head of his cock, shifting to press the electrified dildo against his prostate and making him erupt with his fourth orgasm of the night. "Tell me, when does it start to hurt to come?"

"D'no'," he screamed, his entire body convulsing in the mixture of pain, pleasure and electric shock. "Dozen, more?" he tried to answer.

"Then we've got a _long_ way to go," she crooned, letting his cock rest for a moment and pulling out of him, taking off the strap-on and taking a few moments to make sure his wounds were reasonably well cared for before she tried to move him. This would make _such_ a nice present for Chance.

* * *

Marie groaned as she pulled off her custom-made boots in the front entrance of Jake and Chance's home, a place she spent more time at these days than her own. A second fruitless evening of searching for their missing lover, and her nerves were easily more frazzled than Chance. She knew he was getting worried, but it just as clear that he'd long ago gotten used to the concept of not seeing Jake for days at a shot. It was only when she'd told him that Jake wasn't at GD that he'd gotten up and agreed to help look.

The giant TV that dominated the living room flicked to life when she made a few more paces inside the home, and her eyes went wide at the sight of Jake being led into a bedroom by a leash and on all fours.

"Chance!" She all but screamed. "Chance! Get In Here!"

The tabby was behind her in a flash, and quickly saw the TV.

"Ah fuck," he groaned. "What the Hell is he up to now?" He asked, clearly not worried about what he was seeing. That half-amusement ended a few seconds later when a naked Melody leaned into the frame to tie Jake's wrists to the headboard.

"Chance ... do _not_ tell me this is okay." Marie looked at him in a mixture of horror and disbelief.

"This ... is starting to get creepy, considering who he's with, but the only _really_ weird things are that it's a girl and he never told us he was sleeping with her," Chance murmured. "Jake's told you he's kinky, right?"

"Yes, but ..." Marie started to protest, only to fall silent at Jake's cry of pain as his body arched off the bed. "That's electrical shock, strong."

"Shit ... he's never done that before, that I know," Chance muttered as he considered going to see if Jake was still there. If this was real-time, he might be able to get there while it _wasn't_ too crazy yet.

He could only imagine what that crazy bitch would do to somebody as _completely_ willing as Jake could be, when she'd tried to fuck him!

"She turns it up any higher and there'll be permanent damage," Marie grabbed Chance's arm and half-hauled him back out to the cyclotron that he'd just turned off.

"She _wouldn't_ be that crazy," Chance suggested. "I mean... _she's_ done that before, at least, tried to do it to me... what sort of damage?"

"Nervous system, brain damage. A few notches higher than that are we're getting into execution levels," Marie hurried to get behind Chance on the cyclotron.

" _Shit_ ," he swore, gunning the bike and pulling out, completely ignoring the speed limit as he tore through the streets. "Can you help if it's too much?"

"Yes," she said firmly, and for once didn't object to Chance pushing the bike's limits. "How much depends on how soon after it happens I get him to the hospital."

"Right," Chance muttered. "Get your head down, and don't stick anything out!" He warned her, flooring it, taking off as Marie clung to his waist, holding on for dear life as she heard a siren behind them.

A siren that this time Chance didn't pay any heed to until he'd skidded to a stop just outside Melody's front door and all but broken the door in.

"Don't bother stopping," Marie said. "I'll explain things if we have to."

Chance slammed into the door again, the wood of the frame splintering as the locks ripped out and he practically fell into her house.

"Jake?" He bellowed, making his way back towards Melody's bedroom. The house was silent and cold, the kind of feel he knew well from a warrant served at the wrong time. One step into the bedroom confirmed that. He could still smell Jake, sex, blood and pain, but it was at least a day old, possibly two, and well cleaned up for a human.

"Shit," he swore to himself, turning around to stalk out and wait for Sheriff Carter. At least he hoped it was the Sheriff ... he didn't think that he wanted to see Jo after ignoring her siren like that.

When the Jeep turned the corner closest to Melody's house he let out a small breath of relief.

"Okay, who's dying?" Carter demanded as he stepped out, glaring at the two felinoids.

"Possibly Jake," Marie said, dead serious.

"And Melody when I catch up with her," Chance growled, his ears flat and tail visibly lashing. "We've been out looking for him, and we got home to a video of her...."

"Whatever she was doing to him, the electricity was in the torture and bordering on brain-damage range," Marie summarized.

"I don't suppose you thought to save this video?" Carter asked, suddenly weary as he turned to get into his vehicle again.

"It can be retrieved," Marie nodded.

"Then let's see it, since I'd guess it was set at this house, and they aren't here now?" Carter looked between them.

"They're not, and it is," Chance agreed, hurrying back to his bike. "Can you get Jo out looking for them?"

"Sure," he nodded. "When was the last time you saw either one?"

"Jake, for breakfast two days ago," Marie supplied. "He wasn't around when I went to get him for lunch around three that day."

"So about sixty hours ago?" Carter looked at her, now honestly a bit worried. "And he's not at work?"

"Yes, and he's not," she confirmed after getting behind Chance.

"Just go the speed limit this time," Carter yelled at them before shutting his door and pulling back onto the road, heading for Chance's place.

Chance did just that, though he was a little reluctant to the whole way. Fortunately, they had Carter behind them this time to give them a little more obvious clout when it came to figuring out who had right of way through intersections, and it wasn't long before they were back.

Marie was first in the house, and by the time Chance and Carter joined her she'd found the file and had it set up to play from the beginning.

"It's not pretty, Sheriff," Marie warned him.

"At least there aren't bodies involved yet," he pointed out as the file started to play. "Better than when Jaeger hit."

"There better not be any," Chance muttered and made himself watch as his partner was fucked, electrocuted, then cut into a bloody mess.

"Holy ... if the house _wasn't_ a bloody mess, she had _plenty_ of time to clean up," Carter said, watching as Jake was escorted out of the room, tied up, begging for the bladed whip Melody started using on him. "I'll call Jo and Stark, tell them to find where she is and what she's up to."

"It wasn't," Chance told him. "I could smell it, but faint and a day or two old."

"Right," Carter nodded with a slight shudder and a very solid understanding of why Chance had broken every traffic law on the book getting there. He left the pair watching Jake be tortured, apparently by his own wish, and called Jo and Stark in a conference call from just outside the front door.

"Stark here, what is it?" The Doctor asked as Carter got him through, sounding more irritable than usual as Jo connected as well.

"We have a possible situation here ... kidnapping and murder are on the list," he got both their undivided attentions fast. "I need to know where Melody Wilson and Jake Clawson are ASAP."

"Melody Wilson is in her lab... and Clawson's been missing for a couple days," Stark said, concern in his voice after a few moments of typing. "His transponder is either offline or out of range. What's going on, Carter?"

"Make sure she stays there until Jo picks her up," Carter ordered. "She's the suspect, and he's the victim."

"Sheriff!" Marie's voice screamed at him from inside.

"Jo, get Wilson, something just came up," Carter said, rushing back in and watching as Melody put a knee against Jake's back, pulling on the leash that was still fastened to his neck, pulling the collar tight. It was clear that he couldn't breath, and that he was badly hurt, blood streaming down his legs from some new wound he couldn't really see as the blonde strangled him.

Unlike the other scenes, this time he was fighting. He got himself out of the cuffs, leaving fur and blood behind, and clawed at the collar frantically even as his strength could be seen to fade.

Melody pressed her foot harder against his back, forcing him flat to the floor and pulling it tighter. Even in the fast forward they were watching in, Jake's eyes were clearly bulging as he strained to breathe... then stopped fighting. By that time, Chance was already up out of his seat and heading for his Cyclotron, Marie staring in horror at the screen.

"Jo, _stop_ Chance from killing Melody," Carter ordered sharply, fully aware that she was the only person in Eureka that had any hope of it. "It looks like she strangled Jake and sent him the video."

"Shit," the voice on the other end of the line said, the sound of an engine gunning saying she was probably already on her way to GD... hopefully she'd be able to head him off.

"We'll have guards at Dr. Wilson's office," Stark said simply, hanging up on his end of it.

"Come on," Carter grabbed Marie's arm even as he checked to see if there was any more of the recording left to indicate Jake had recovered. "We'd better both get out there. Chance vs. Jo is not a good fight right now."

"No," Marie murmured, trying to collect herself enough to follow him. "Not for either of them," she agreed as they got to his cruiser and were quickly after the bike and rider that could outperform damn near anything in Eureka on the ground.

When they reached Global, the cyclotron was in the parking lot, right next to its companion that had sat there for several days.

"Probably already inside," Carter muttered as he got out and raced for Dr. Wilson's lab, grabbing directions on the way.

"Not that far," Marie said, hurrying ahead as she heard snarling ahead of them, finding Jo sitting on top of Chance, holding him down by virtue of sheer mass.

"The perp is inside," Jo informed Carter. "I have him contained." Her tone left little doubt in anyone's mind that she'd be perfectly happy to change that if the allegations proved true.

"Then let's find out what's going on - Dr. Moreau, you wait back here too," he said, looking at Marie seriously before heading towards Melody's door.

He walked into an electronics lab with four GD guards watching his entrance nervously, and a well-rounded blond woman working with only the occasionally irritated glance at them.

"Dr. Wilson, I have some questions for you, if you'd come down to the sheriff's office," he tried to open cordially, despite what he'd witnessed only minutes before.

"What's wrong, Sheriff?" She asked, turning to look at him. "The guards just said they were to make sure I didn't leave my office, and I haven't had any explanations about the commotion outside either."

"It involves sending him a recording of his partner being strangled," he explained a bit more sharply than he really meant to. "Rather graphically, by you."

"Jake wasn't home before that got there?" Melody asked him. "Sheriff, I can prove he was fine the last time I saw him, I thought they'd like the edited version... just never thought Jake wouldn't be home by the time I emailed it."

"He hasn't been seen or recorded since you two left Cafe Diem," he said firmly. "Proof of his condition when you parted would be a very good thing, Dr. Wilson. I'm not sure how long my deputy can keep Chance from ripping you to shreds over what he did see, regardless of any intention. I've seen real murder scenes that looked cleaner."

"Jake enjoyed every single thing we did, and begged for more of it," she pointed out simply. "I don't have the footage here, but I can get into my computer and bring it up," she said, turning and bringing up her remote workstation at home, opening up a second file. "Jake said he was going to go for a swim before he left, I just figured he was going to clean up and go home," she added, finding the point in the file where she had removed the collar from Jake's unconscious body and started to let him recover.

"I'm going to need to have the authenticity of that footage verified, and until we do find him, I would strongly recommend you keep as far away from his friends as possible. Right now you are a person of interest in a very serious looking missing person case." He told her.

"Let me _up_ , damn it!" Chance snarled from under Jo's significant mass. "I won't kill her."

"So which one of the dozen different experts in this building do you want to have look at the original?" She asked Carter as Chance kept struggling to get loose. "I didn't hurt him any more than he _wanted_ to be hurt. Nothing illegal about that."

"Nothing except that he is missing, we have footage of him being killed by your hand," Carter reminded her. "Until he is found, this is presumed to be a homicide."

"You have got to be joking," Melody stared at him.

"He is not," Stark stepped into the room. "He is also well within his rights to hold you until this is sorted out."

"Not unless he charges me," Melody bristled.

"Under my authority, he does have the authority to hold you until we know what happened to Dr. Clawson," Stark informed her darkly. "Whatever the intent of this is, it is now a very serious situation. I will have both recordings examined for authenticity," he added to Carter.

"Well for his sake, I _certainly_ hope nothing happens to Jake while you're wasting your time harassing me!" Melody said, crossing her arms disapprovingly. "I'd hate to see what you do to people who _don't_ cooperate."

"I sic Jo on them," Carter informed her, then glanced between Stark and Chance, the tabby calmed down, or at least under control now. "House arrest?" He half asked Stark.

"I'll assign a couple guards to make sure she stays where she's supposed to," Stark nodded. "It _is_ possible that he just went out of range of our transponders," he told Chance, trying to give him some good news.

"If you'll get her _off_ me, I know how to find him," Chance wasn't sure who to glare at harder.

"What have I done to you, Chance?" She asked him pointedly. "I took your boyfriend out to apologize for the _one_ scene I caused at your place, he was interested in more than dinner, and _he_ decided not to come home yet," she pointed out. " _I_ didn't know he was going to do that, so I sent you two the video I thought he'd like. Or don't you like the two of you being filmed when you get a copy? Okay, my timing sucked. I'm _sorry_ !"

"What, you couldn't _guess_ that him not being here for two _days_ meant he probably hadn't been home either?" Marie asked, glaring at Melody from the door.

" _I'm_ not following his every move," Melody pointed out too-sweetly.

"Okay, that's it, everybody out," Carter said. "A fight here isn't going to do anything but get you guys tossed into the cells, and we'll have guards watching Melody until it's all sorted out. Jo, let Chance up so he can go try and find Jake."

"How do you plan to do it?" Stark asked, openly curious.

Chance got up with a glare at Jo before he turned to Stark. "She said he was going to go swimming, his swimming gear is gone. His bike is here, so he must have gotten into the water nearby. There's only one way out of Eureka by water, and I can use the TurboKat to cover it a lot faster than he can swim. He might not be in range now, but he will be soon enough, or at least his gear will be."

"Sounds good; good luck," Stark said with a nod. "I won't say I want him back as badly as you do, but I _do_ want him back alive and well."

"Thanks," Chance nodded and clicked a small remote in his pocket to call the TurboKat to him as he ran outside.

Marie turned to follow him, running hard to try and keep up with his longer strides. She didn't catch up until he was standing just outside the building where the jet was coming in for an autopilot VTOL landing in the close quarters between building and parking.

Chance didn't seem to notice her as she came to a stop right next to him.

"I'm coming with you," she told him as the jet's cockpit opened, moving to climb in with him.

"You might not want to see this," Chance blocked her, his expression serious. "There's good odds I'm on a body recovery that's had a couple days to rot."

"And there's _some_ chance you're not, or that if we find him there might be something I can do," she said seriously. "I _do_ have more medical training than you do, and I'm not going to just sit here while you look for him."

"All right," Chance consented reluctantly and helped her into the back seat before getting in himself. "Okay, buddy, be true to your history," he pleaded softly as the TurboKat's engines roared to life and he raced across the gray sky to follow the single shallow river that lead out of Eureka from the lake. Eventually it would empty into the sea, but there were several hundred miles between here and there and Jake probably hadn't made it to open water yet.

"Do you have your breather with you?" Marie asked Chance as he monitored the scanner. "We might do better with the transponders in those than the one that's in him."

"The TurboKat can scan for it," he told her simply as they followed the river downstream at a fairly slow pace, given their craft. "It's a signal like any other."

"Do you really think he _wanted_ to sleep with her?" Marie asked softly.

"No," Chance said with absolute certainty. "He barely wanted to sleep with _you_ when you weren't right there where your scent could mess with him. He really doesn't do fems." He sighed softly, a slight shudder passing through his powerful frame. "Until she started to strangle him, she wasn't lying about him enjoying it," he murmured. "Never knew he got that serious."

"Gonna have to find some way for him to get it somewhere," Marie nodded slightly. "I know _I_ couldn't do that to him."

"It's why he never brought it up," Chance told her. "One thing I learned early on was that if you aren't enjoying it, he won't all that much."

"A good thing, I think," Marie murmured, her eyes drawn to the blinking green dot on the gunner's console.

"Finding someone for him is Beverly's specialty," Chance pulled himself out of thinking about the full depth of his partner's desires. "I just hope he didn't find it good enough to go back to her."

"Is that ...."

"Yes," Chance nodded and nosed them down to just above the water. "Jake, you hear me buddy?"

The answering silence was deafening. 

"I'll go to look for him," Marie told Chance and started to strip off her shirt.

"No need," he told her and brought up a HUD. "I'm no gunner, but I can catch that slow moving a target."

"Where'll he come in when you catch him?" She asked, shifting focus to being in the best place to help Jake.

"Right under you," he actually chuckled a bit before he focused on taking aim. The net-missile launched and disappeared under the water, its tether to the jet visible at the right angle. "His seat moves back to access the bay."

"Okay," she nodded slightly, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, sincerely hoping they'd just have a very startled, even pissed off Jake to deal with soon.

"He's alive," Chance's shout was half relief, half exuberance as the net was pulled up and Marie's seat slid back to a view going right down to the river, including the struggling form in the net being hauled up.

"Thank _God_ ," Marie said, letting herself breathe as Jake was pulled up into the jet. He didn't look half as badly hurt as he had on the video either, though he didn't look all that coherent either. "Jake, are you okay?" she asked as she reached down to try and touch him, both to reassure herself and him, and tried to ignore his nudity and injuries.

"N-no," he finally gasped, openly weary and disoriented.

The net fell away, and he worked to climb up, into his traditional place in the cockpit.

"Let me take a look at you," she asked him, trying to keep the pleading tone out of his voice. "You're hurt; you need to be checked out."

"Jake, let her," Chance's tone was bordering on an order, though not quite, as he set down next to the bank, grateful more than words that this area seemed to be fairly isolated.

Despite his visible desire to crawl forward to be with his partner, Jake complied and held still for Marie in the cramped quarters of the back seat.

The first thing she checked was that, the video to the contrary, nothing had been _removed_ from him. The worst damage she could find was the cut into his skin, probably some sort of 'trademark' of Melody's. Mostly it was just a mass of minor damage, about what she'd have expected given the video.

"What did she do to you?" She murmured softly, reaching up to inspect his throat next. The strangling had really happened, and he'd dug his caws deep into his own flesh to try and stop it, but the two gashes that could have been dangerous had already been treated.

"D'know," he mumbled and willingly let Chance gather him up in his arms and leap to the ground. It gave Marie more of a look at the bond the pair shared than she'd ever wanted to know about, and the realization that they'd been through some bad times before; Chance seemed to know just how to settle him, how to touch him, hold him, to make him feel secure.

"First aid kit to your right," Chance called up to her before she started to climb down, not up for taking it in the single leap the guys used.

She fetched it, not honestly sure which of the wounds to start on. Her medical training was a little shaky ... but she did her best. It looked far, far worse than it was, but she still wanted to skin Melody for it.

"Who's 'she'?" Jake looked up at his partner and all but oblivious to the woman tending his wounds.

"Melody," Chance growled. "You don't remem .... what is the last thing you remember?"

"Eating at Vincent's," he murmured and let his eyes slip closed, a sure sign he felt safe. "Spicy corn chowder. Think Melody was there. Talking some. Not much else. Feel like I got worked over by Dark Kat."

"Melody got you back to her place and gave you a working over that would've made some torturers proud... we thought you were dead," Marie said, her voice breaking for a moment as she fought to focus on her work.

"Why?" Jake finally acknowledged her presence fully.

"She sent us the video, and it showed her strangling you," Marie explained.

"More than that," Chance growled lowly. "Obviously, it wasn't all real, but... we didn't know that at the time."

"Don't remember any of it," Jake murmured, thoroughly unsettled.

"Any injuries that can't wait for the hospital?" Chance asked Marie.

"No," she shook her head. "But he should be seen there."

"I want to see this vid," Jake added as Chance stood, taking him with him, and headed back for the jet to go home.

"We'll call Carter on the way, and get the videos set up for you," Chance promised him. "We'll get you to medical if you're not feeling better in a few hours."

"A few _hours_ ?" Marie almost exploded as she raced after Chance the short distance to the jet. "He was tortured within an inch of his life, probably drugged and I'm sure is in the early stages of hypothermia from two-something days in cold water. He needs to go to the hospital _now_ ."

Chance looked back at Marie with a bit of a scowl, but turned to Jake next.

"If you don't want to, _I_ won't make you, but she's probably right," he admitted reluctantly.

"We're not in MegaKat City anymore," he murmured, nearly as reluctant as his partner. "She's right too."

"Carter's going to want blood tests and the rest, given what set this off," she added before climbing into the back seat.

"All right," Chance sighed, getting ready to take off. "But as soon as they say he's okay, we're getting him home; I want him somewhere we know it's safe."

"He'll be safer in the hospital until his injuries are tended to," Marie said firmly. "But I agree with you on getting him home," she added and watched Jake curl up against Chance's chest and in his arms as the jet lifted off and headed home on autopilot.

"You had me scared to death," Chance whispered into Jake's hair, all but oblivious to the woman in the back seat. "She strangled you; you looked dead."

"We need to watch out for her," Jake murmured, already half asleep. "She's got Dark Kat in her."

"She tries anything like that again, we'll find out just how much she _does_ have in common with him," Chance murmured, giving Jake a gentle kiss.

"Got to give her one thing though, from the feel of things, she's a _damn_ good sadist," Jake actualy chuckled. "Too bad she needs the psych ward."

"Badly," Marie agreed, her short tail lashing back and forth. "She... _says_ you were willing for all of it," she told Jake. "We don't believe it, but thought you should know."

Jake propped his head on Chance's shoulder to look at her, his eyes half closed in exhaustion and shivering faintly. "Probably never be sure on the who, but the what I can tell you when I see what happened." He let his eyes close the rest of the way and snuggled against Chance's neck a bit more. "I told you I had a pretty kinky side."

"Yeah, I guess you do," Marie murmured, settling in for the short trip back as Chance called in to say they'd found Jake alive and to have the medical staff ready for him.

"It'll be okay," Chance told them both softly. "Marie, would you hand up the blanket from the medkit?"

"Right," she nodded, passing it up and realizing something. "Did I just miss his collar, or...?"

"It's gone," Chance answered even as Jake lifted a hand to feel for the soft fabric that wasn't there.

"Melody," Marie growled lowly. "Well that's one thing we can use to prove what she did, anyways."

"She's not contesting any of what she did," Chance pointed out. "Proving it wasn't consensual, legally, will be almost impossible, even with the trophy she took."

"Do you remember if she gave you anything, Jake?" Marie asked, shifting her focus to trying to figure out _how_ she'd gotten him to go along with her. "Or tried to show off some sort of gadget or something?"

"Just lunch at Vincent's," he said tiredly as they set down on the hospital's roof. "Everything past that goes from blurry to not there."

"Let's get you checked out before we worry about more questions," she said, climbing out to help Chance get Jake down and onto a stretcher with a minimal amount of pain. It was a concern that she focused on more; Chance was already well aware that his partner was largely past feeling pain.

"Carter'll have plenty of them," Chance nodded and glared at the doctor until she motioned them to come along as Jake was taken into a private examination room.

"I'm sure he will," Dr. Van Sur agreed as the door closed, leaving Jake on the bed, an assistant across from him and Chance and Marie off to one side. "Dr. Clawson, have you eaten anything during the past few days?" She asked him, running through the problems that could be dealt with without a longer exam.

"Doubt it," he murmured as the nurse began drying him off with warm air.

"I'll need a glucose drip," she told one of the nurses, who hurried off to get it as they helped ease him back onto the bed and she grabbed a digital thermometer. "Cuts look like we should be able to patch them up easily enough ... probably not going to bother with the nanites, unless there's something in particular we need to...." She looked under his arm at his side and trailed off as she noticed the finger-sized patch of missing skin that was beginning to fester. "We're going to need to get that checked out fast," she said lowly. "Mind sharing any details on what happened?" she looked around at all of them.

"S&M gone wrong," Jake murmured. "Then a very long swim."

"Blades, some sort of bladed whip, strangulation, electrocution, other things that I can't remember off-hand, according to the video," Marie offered.

"Starting to feel cold?" Dr. Van Sur asked as she drew an antibiotic injection and gave it to Jake while the nurse shaved the back of his hand to insert the IV. "No macho toughing it out, either. I need to know what's really going on."

"Yeah," Jake admitted. "And the tabby's the macho one. I'm just tired."

"Please try to stay with me until I'm sure you're fit enough to sleep and wake up again," Dr. Van Sur requested firmly.

"A'right," Jake mumbled. "When can I go home?"

The doctor stilled, staring at him for a long moment as others worked to warm him up and give his body what it needed to recover most.

"Not until tomorrow at the _very_ earliest," she said. "You'll be lucky to get out of here this week."

"M'kay," Jake nodded and worked to keep his eyes open.

"They were going to head back home straight," Marie muttered. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Make sure that one actually sleeps, and you too," she motioned to Chance. "Jake would probably have recovered on his own with a little home care, but not as quickly or with as few scars as we'll manage. Though I can see that hasn't always been a concern," she added, noticing a number of older scars, similar to his newer wounds. "Who did all this to him?"

"The newest batch is courtesy of Melody Wilson," Chance said with a low rumble. "The older ones ... bullets, lasers, crashes, a few bad fights and the occasional lover that indulged him."

"Including you?" She asked evenly.

"Sometimes," he nodded, then glanced at his partner, pain showing in his expression. "Never like this, though."

"All the ones that are problems right now are Miss Wilson's work," Marie muttered with a low, angry rowl.

"I gathered that," Dr. Van Sur nodded. "Why don't you two go home? He's not in critical condition, and you all need rest. The sheriff will be questioning you soon enough, I expect."

"We'll grab one of the cots in my lab," Marie said, stopping Chance before he could object. "We'll want to be here in case there's any other news that comes up."

"All right," she nodded. "I'll contact you there if there are any changes."

"Thank you," Marie nodded. "And Jake? You'd _better_ not make them have to call us!" She said sternly, before ushering Chance out of the room.

* * *

Marie sighed softly as the door shut behind Chance. He was going for their lunch, and she suspected after Jake's collar. Even to them, a wedding band was serious business and they'd taken a long time getting there. She looked down at the sleeping tom, his scars more visible that ever with many patches of fur shaved off to give access to infections and places that needed stitches.

At least he was eating and drinking on his own now. The IV was out, and he was resting, albeit reluctantly, until his body had healed to the point that Dr. Van Sur was convinced he was well enough to recover at home.

"That bitch is _so_ lucky Dad's locked me out of the virology lab," she murmured, kissing Jake's forehead gently.

"Relax," Jake mumbled, only partially awake. "I've survived worse."

"Lemme know who from, and I'll make 'em think ebola's something you can sleep off," she growled, nuzzling his cheek. "Sorry to wake you up."

"Too much sleep's bad for me," he chuckled weakly. "Dark Kat, Dr. Viper, Turmoil, PastMaster ... it's quite a list. Life wasn't peaceful back there."

"They're just lucky I can't get there to deliver anything I developed," she muttered, her tail twitching. "And just as well... almost time for Beverly to come in, I think."

"Not sure what she plans to accomplish," he said, still groggy from sedatives, but coming around quickly.

"It's mostly standard procedure, I guess," Marie explained. "Since we figure you weren't willing for all of it, and with your memory loss."

"Fair guess, given who it was," he acknowledged. "No way to prove any of it if I can't even say I wasn't."

"We'll find a way," she murmured, kissing his forehead gently. "Jake? How much of that sorta thing ... _do_ you like?"

"More than Chance can deal with," he said evenly. "Enough to get myself killed if I wasn't careful about my partners. It's not something I do often, though." He looked up at her, trying to gage her mood. "Every few months back home ... more here if I had someone to go to, since it doesn't matter much if I'm laid up for a few days."

"If you wanted... I might be able to try some time, but I really don't know how much I could do," she admitted.

He reached up to caress her cheek. "Thank you, but you don't need to. It's not the only way I get off, and I'm used to going outside my normal relationships for it."

"Okay," she murmured, pressing into his hand. "Just be careful you make sure whoever it is _does_ know what they're doing, okay? Don't want you hooking up with somebody else like Melody."

"That's not fair," Jake protested weakly. "She's _so_ not my type."

"I know," she nodded. "It'd just really, really suck to find out you've got somebody else who'll go this far with you."

"I'll tell you after I see what happened if I'm inclined to let anyone," Jake promised.

"Am I interrupting anything?" Beverly asked, knocking lightly at the door.

"Not really," Jake said, resigned to having to talk to her about something he couldn't remember and suspected he'd _really_ want to.

"Would either of you like me to go?" Marie asked, looking at Jake first.

"It would be best," Beverly said when it became clear that Jake wasn't likely to.

"All right," Marie nodded. "I'll come back when Chance brings lunch in," she promised Jake, heading out and back to her lab to get some more work done.

"So, how are you doing?" Beverly asked him.

"Bored, stiff, sore and thoroughly irritated by a two day blank spot in my memory," he half-shrugged and sat up, a blanket pooled in his lap to cover his nudity. It also gave Beverly a very clear look at the scars-to-be that were going to join his collection.

"Do you have any idea why the blank is there?" She asked him, pulling over one of the chairs and sitting down.

"Beyond the obvious choices of drug, device or hypnotism?" he asked rhetorically. "No."

"How do you feel about seeing what it was that happened to you?" she asked, making a mental note that he had either been through more than she even wanted to think about or really had no clue what had happened.

"It's not as good as remembering, but it'll at least put me on level with the conversations folks keep wanting to have," he grumbled, then shrugged. "I have a fairly good idea, between what it left on me and the bits and pieces Chance and Marie have said."

"It was very ... impressive. Will you want to see it at full speed, or in the fast-forward that most of us have? It might help your memory more at full," she admitted.

"I will eventually," he nodded. "I rather doubt anyone else involved even wants to try to. Carter sounded like the only reason he was going to look again was to get confirmation from me on what I would likely have agreed to. Still not sure why. It's not like it's anything that can be taken to court."

"Not with clean bloodwork," she nodded. "But it might be possible to take it as evidence in any other cases that come up in the future. Proven or not, it might come up."

"I guess," he nodded a bit.

"How are Chance and Marie taking all this?" She asked, trying a different tactic to try and get into some details about how he was feeling about this.

"Trying to figure out ways to kill Melody and not get caught," he shook his head. "Though for very different reasons, I think. Chance is pissed 'cause she took my collar and the timing of the video's arrival. Marie ... I think she couldn't really deal with what she was watching as be something other than torture."

"She _did_ see the edited video first, which featured not only what happened, but you being castrated and strangled to death," Beverly explained. "She might be having a hard time separating them. Do they believe you were raped?"

"More sure than I am," he nodded slightly. "All I'm sure of is that I don't remember something I'd probably really want to.

To Beverly's experienced eye, he was clearly going into uneasy territory, and it wasn't just the questionable consent to the sex behind it.

"Why?" she prompted him when he stopped.

"It was probably the most mind-blowing sex of my life, and probably went further than I'd allow normally," he answered, only a bit reluctantly.

"Because you don't feel it was safe, not because you don't want to?" Beverly offered.

"Pretty much," he half-motioned to himself. "Anything that did this much damage isn't something I can let happen."

"But it's the sort of thing you might want, sometimes ... would you be interested in finding somebody trustworthy, who can indulge you when you get into that sort of mood?"

Despite his hesitation, she could see the spike in his breath she recognized as desire, very strong desire. It was something she was more accustomed to having directed towards her and not the idea of being beaten to a bloody mess while being fucked, but it was hardly the strangest kink she'd run across. Privately, she was pleased he seemed to have a reasonable grasp on how far was too far.

"You have those kinds of contacts?" Jake asked instead of directly answering.

"I might be a professional, but there's only so far I'm willing to go," she explained easily. "I have some professional contacts, but I also have some other people in Eureka who aren't professionals, but are into that scale of S&M and open to new partners."

Jake nodded thoughtfully. 

"I usually prefer a professional," he told her.

"Professional 'does it for a living,' or professional 'no strings attached?'" She asked, thinking through both lists.

"Both do well, but those that do it for a living tend to be the best at it, and at listening," Jake said.

"Mmm ... I'll consider the options, but your best bets might be from other cities; is that going to be a problem, assuming they're trustworthy?"

"From everything I've gathered, if they pass muster to see me, they'll pass my standards," Jake chucked.

"I'll check with some of them then," Beverly smiled. "I assume you prefer males, of course."

"By a significant margin," he agreed. "Are there any masochists in Eureka that might be inclined to indulged a sadist now and then?"

"There might be; if you'd like, I could also look at finding a professional pair," she offered. "Are you as strong a sadist as masochist?"

"Fairly close," he nodded. "I've been able to indulge that kink more, since it doesn't leave me injured. A pair isn't necessary, it's not the same ... mood."

"So a masochist could be a non-professional?" Beverly asked, running through a much longer list now that the two tastes were not linked.

"Yes, as long as they were comfortable with me," Jake nodded. "It really ruins it when the other side isn't into it."

"Very true," Beverly agreed. "Are there any physical characteristics that you would prefer in a masochist?"

"Small," he paused when he realized his usual description of 'fluffy and cute' wouldn't mean much here. "Effeminate ... I think is the right term for a human. Subby. Someone that isn't difficult to physically dominate."

"And for a sadist?" she asked, already fairly sure he'd be going for the classic dom.

"The opposite; someone who can easily dominate me," he answered.

"I have a few ideas in mind," she nodded. "Does that preference have anything in particular to do with your preference for males?"

 

"No," Jake shook his head. "That one's part nature and part rebellion," he chuckled a bit. "I've always been more attracted to guys, even before I had any idea I was kinky, much less as strongly as I am. My family's focus on breeding just pushed that into a strong dislike of females."

"You don't seem to have any problems with Marie," she pointed out. It wasn't something she heard often, but this wasn't the first time either.

"Marie ... Kat's are more sensitive to pheromones than humans are, and I'm more sensitive to certain ones than most Kats. They aren't gender or race specific, I've met Kats, Kantin, humans and Cats, male and female, that had it. Marie's one of them, and it's fairly strong."

"That... could explain what happened with Melody," Beverly mused. "Some perfumes have pheromones in them, if she had one that triggered your reaction, it might have gotten things started."

"Possible," he nodded. "It would have been enough, _if_ I'd been drunk already, or she'd come on insanely strong. She's still Melody, and I already knew enough to not want to get involved no matter how strong the pheromones."

"I know, but it's something to start with... have you ever had a reaction like to somebody's pheromones that resulted in your memories being spotty afterwards, that you know of?"

"I've only had one memory blank before, and that was after I took a hit to the head that left me unconscious in the hospital for a week," Jake said without any hesitation. "Fighter crash we were lucky to survive as well as we did."

"Not likely then," she nodded. "I'll take a look through the things I've run into before, but it's unlikely that anything will be proven... does that bother you?"

"Some," he shrugged. "It's also how things are. I was an Enforcer, law enforcement. If you don't learn to accept the reality that you can know what happened and not prove it, you'll go crazy. I've gotten the benefit of that often enough, I can't say I'm surprised that it eventually worked against me too."

"You're referring to SWAT?" She guessed.

"Mostly," he nodded. "Good intentions doesn't change that most of what we did ranged from illegal to _very_ illegal."

"It does to some people," she offered. "Think you'll be up for the video after lunch then?"

"Chance is one of them," he smiled slightly. "If the docs'll let me."

"I think they'll be fine with it as long as they don't have to watch," Beverly chuckled slightly. They both looked up at a knock on the door, and Beverly stood to open it for Marie and Chance, along with the promised lunch from Cafe Diem.

"Ready for lunch?" Marie asked hopefully.

"Definitely," Jake grinned at them. "Smells like Vincent's work."

"I'll be back after lunch," Beverly smiled, heading out to leave them be.

"Sorry it took me so long to get this, but I ... ah ... had to get something from the lost and found," Chance said, giving Marie the trays and pulling Jake's collar out of his pocket.

"Thank you," Jake leaned forward to kiss him as Chance put the collar back on where it belonged.

"Just don't ask whose 'lost and found' I found it in," Chance chuckled slightly, kissing Jake back. "Not that I think anybody's gonna come looking for it."

"We all know where it was," he murmured and licked Chance's nose playfully. "Now ... food?"

"Of course," Marie grinned at the pair.

* * *

Not long before, Chance found himself in one of the few places in Eureka he'd never expected to be again.

Standing in front of Melody's house.

In theory, he was supposed to be getting lunch ... but he didn't have to be back by any particular time. Since he knew Melody was at work just now, he was pretty sure he'd have time to sneak in and find Jake's collar.

He walked up to the door, somewhat disappointed that it had already been repaired from his previous day's assault on it, and quickly checked the usual suspects for places she might have left a spare key.

Over the door, under the mat, in and under the few rocks about ... eventually he headed around back and started over. It was only when he noticed the slight discoloration on one corner of the patio that he grinned. He slid the small compartment open and retrieved the key.

Well hidden, but he'd found harder back home. He headed up to her back door, checking the door briefly to see if he was going to trigger any alarms just unlocking the door, then doing just that, opening the door carefully and waiting a moment for the alert beep that said it wasn't going to go off right away.

It had been years since he'd done this, but he was still pretty good at it.

"You, just where would you hide a trophy?" he murmured to himself and began to search the house.

The layout seemed a lot like his own place... and he counted on that, thinking about the places they had to hide things. It led him to the main bedroom, and the walk-in closet.

"Should be a storage closet back here," he murmured, working through Melody's clothes to the back of it, and to the door he knew should be there. She'd hid it better than most would bother, but the door slid open easily when he gave it a sideways push.

What was really surprising was what he saw when he opened it ... pictures of him, the dildo she'd been taking Jake with ... it wasn't too hard to find Jake's collar amidst the other crap in the closet, but seeing what was there almost had more of his attention.

He knew a stalker's shrine when he saw one.

He also knew even where it was a crime, it was all but impossible to prove in court, and that was where he had the rights of a full native citizen, let alone when he'd just broken in to discover it.

Chance drew a deep breath and put the collar in his pocket and slipped out, deeply disturbed by what this added to what he already knew of Melody.

He made sure to lock the door behind himself and replace the key after wiping it off on his shirt, then headed for the cyclotron.

He'd known she was fucked up, but it was just getting weirder and weirder. It made him wonder even more about Cindy's car... and about just how the Hell Melody could have gotten at it.

It also meant he had to keep her _far_ away from Jake. As much as he hated to even consider it, he knew deep down that probably a solid ninety percent of what had happened to Jake at her hands he'd honestly enjoyed. If Melody'd been a guy, he'd be downright afraid that Jake'd go back willingly.

He just wished he knew how she'd bedded him in the first place... even drugging him wouldn't have done it without something to get him past her being a fem. It was an extremely short list, and all involved drugs of some kind, natural or otherwise, and made it very doubtful there was anyway possible for it not to be rape on some level, even if Jake was unlikely to ever consider it such.

He turned off towards the Cafe Diem, the collar in his pocket as he tried to figure out some way to prove what he knew had happened, had actually happened.


	13. Recovery and Revenge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Melody finds herself on the wrong side of the law for once, though that doesn't mean it's particularly good news for the guys.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written with Karl Wolfemann

Melody Wilson tried to put the past two days behind her when she took her keys out to open her front door. Her so carefully worked plan had gone wrong in a way she'd never expected. Sure, she'd expected Chance to be upset, but she'd never figured that Marie would get the cops involved so quickly. She'd never expect Chance to try to kill her either. He was supposed to be unsettled and threatened, not enraged.

He was so hard to predict sometimes.

She unlocked the door and started back to her room. She'd take a few minutes to herself before working on the rest of her plan.

She had just opened her closet when she realized that the clothes were already pushed out of the way. She hurried back, opening her storage closet and going down to her knees to look through her private collection.

Only a couple items were disturbed, and they were the ones she'd left out ... the items she'd used on Jake, and taken from him and Chance already.

"Damn him," she cursed under her breath. "I worked hard for that collar."

She rearranged everything, putting everything back into its proper place, even as she growled and fumed.

"It had to be you, Chance," she muttered. It couldn't have been Marie or Jake, they'd been at GD all day long. "But how did you get in here?" She carefully closed up her cabinet, then went to check the back door.

It showed no signs of tampering, especially not the kind of damage Chance had done to her front door. Nothing was amiss. Every window was closed and locked as well.

With a grumble, she went back in. She'd have to change her passwords, see about putting her key somewhere else. He was good, at any rate....

She'd have to try and pay him back for that. Something subtle, but irritating ... she'd have to work on it.

She headed back to her room, opening up her video collection and quickly running her finger along the shelf of privately labeled DVD's, making sure nothing was missing. Once she was satisfied, she pulled out her recording of the night with Jake. She slipped it into her player and sat back to watch as she thought about what to do next.

It had gone so _perfectly_ with him, the complete opposite of the night with Chance. Sure Chance was good at fucking her, but he wasn't good for much else. Jake ... damn, why couldn't he have more muscle on him? He was everything she wanted in a plaything, except the looks. She didn't even have to work to make him beg her to use him, abuse and hurt him.

She closed her eyes an imagined Jake's words coming from Chance's mouth and it made her shudder in need.

God, that would be the perfect combination. She started rubbing herself, thinking about it ... after three different guys she'd been serious about, and probably ten times that she'd had a passing fling with, that would be the best she'd ever found.

She wasn't sure what it was about Chance, about the fur and claws, that attracted her so much. It wasn't something she'd ever thought she'd be interested in, but with him... she just _needed_ to hear him talking to her the way Jake had, begging for every form of use and abuse she could imagine and then suggesting a few she hadn't thought she'd use.

She briefly considered playing the disk that had set her on the path to taking Jake, but decided against it. It was too infuriating to see and listen to that subby little guy take _her_ Chance. It wasn't nearly what she'd done to Jake in return, but there was no faking the honest submission that Chance had given him, both bound when he was being fucked and on his knees sucking Jake off.

"Won't let me top you, but that little wimp gets you whenever he wants," she moaned, leaning back on her bed. "Nobody else can have you... just not right...."

She'd already made sure that Cindy was punished for everything she'd done with Chance... once she was out of the hospital, she could see about finishing it. Until then, there were only a few people left she had to take care of.

Marie, for her part in yesterday's events, Tonya for getting several dates, that Sheriff's brat for going to that dance with him ... and Jake ... oh _he_ was going to pay dearly for the many vids he was with Chance in, and their nightly activities.

Nice and slowly ... the other night had just been to show Chance what a craven slut his boyfriend was, but she'd find a way to get a hold of him again, and he'd be begging her to go that little ... tiny ... bit ... further by the time she was done with him. Sooner or later, she'd have Chance all alone, and all to herself.

* * *

"All right," Dr. Van Sur handed Jake a small plastic box, though her gaze encompassed all three of them. "If you need more than one every twelve hours, please come back and talk to me. They are quite potent and time release. Use the cream on all cuts and abrasions every eight hours to minimize scaring and speed healing. I realize as a combat type, you aren't going to completely skip the sims and ranges, but _try_ to minimize the damage for the next few weeks, okay?"

"Yes, ma'am," Jake nodded.

"I'll make sure he takes it easy," Chance promised. "Now that we've got VR gear, it's a bit easier than back home," he chuckled slightly.

"And between the three of us, we should be able to keep track of 8 hour cycles," Marie added with a bit of a grin for all their tendencies to lose track of time.

"I can have your PDAs set to beep you when it's time," Dr. Van Sur offered.

"Might not be a bad idea," Jake admitted. "I'll be back in the reconstruction hangar tomorrow. I could lose days without noticing."

"I'll get the notice into all of them then... and into the computer in the hangar," Dr. Van Sur chuckled. "Now get going, before anything else goes wrong with you three."

"Yes, ma'am," Chance grinned at her and put an arm around Jake as they headed to Marie's car. She could only smile at the way Jake leaned against his mate and they both reassured each other with the simple touch that things really were going to be all right.

"So, you want to grab some dinner before we head home, or just go and relax and order something after?" She asked as they climbed into the car.

"Dinner sounds good," Jake said first. "I don't think I'll _ever_ turn down Vincent's cooking."

"Not many people will," she chuckled, turning for the Cafe once they hit town. "Mmm ... something that can be eaten by the tub?"

"Now that sounds good," Chance grinned widely. "Finger food and dipping sauces."

"Chicken fingers and jalapeno poppers?" She asked.

"Of course," Jake grinned. "Or whatever he has in their place."

"If he trots out the habaneros again, you guys can _have_ 'em," Marie shuddered.

"Nah, he won't do that twice," Jake snickered. "Probably Dorsets this time."

"You _do_ realize that you're a... evil, don't you?" Marie muttered, shaking her head, still sounding good-natured about the whole thing.

"Hay, I could have suggested Bih Jolokia," he teased back.

"Now you're just being mean," Chance laughed and nuzzled Jake's hair. "I think the doc might object to 'Poison Peppers'."

" _This_ Doc would object," Marie mock-grumbled. "I swear, you two would probably swim in the stuff if you thought you'd get away with it."

"What would that do?" Jake asked, his tone serious but his expression anything but.

"You mean _besides_ chemical burns?" She snorted. "Probably just kill the both of you before you got out. So no getting ideas!"

"All right, all right, no playing with pure capsaicin," Jake surrendered with an easy laugh as they pulled up in front of Cafe Diem.

"Mmm ... let's go get dinner and then go home to a hot tub and that catnip vodka you've been hiding," Chance chuckled, climbing out to go in and make the order.

"If everyone's okay with it," Marie glanced at Jake, who nodded easily.

"There's a world of difference between getting buzzed with those you trust, and not having a choice," Jake told her with a light kiss.

"Yeah... wouldn't have suggested it if I thought it'd bother you, Jake," Chance admitted sheepishly as the two of them went to follow the tabby in, all three holo-belts running.

"One of these days we'll just stop bothering with these in Eureka," Marie muttered.

"Maybe," Jake reached out to catch her hand. "It's not so bad, is it?"

"Just a little irritating," she shrugged slightly. "Having to watch out for folks brushing against me, that sorta thing."

The conversation paused as they entered Cafe Diem and exchanged greeting with folks they knew on some level as Chance ordered their dinner. They sipped three sodas while the finger foods, including an option for chef's choice to make Vincent happy, were cooked.

"Thanks, Vincent," Chance picked up the large bag. "We'll let you know how it goes."

"Make sure you do," the chef called cheerfully before heading back into the kitchen to whip up a batch of whatever the special was tonight for another customer as the three felines headed out to Marie's car.

"Mmm ... time to go back home and snuggle," Marie purred as they pulled out. "About time too."

"Warm, wet ... though you can't claim I haven't been well-fed," Jake's purr added to her own in the general contentment in the vehicle.

"Marie?" Chance tensed slightly when he felt as much as saw her tense a bit on the steering wheel.

"Nothing," she replied, though her body language belied her words, and now had both toms attention from the back seat. "Just a little fussy."

"Marie, pull over." Jake nearly ordered, the first time he'd really used his gunner tone with her. "Now."

She pulled the wheel to the side, hard, visibly straining with it as she pressed on the brakes.

"Nothing," she said, the edge of panic in her voice now as she realized that she couldn't stop it, and pulled back out into the street just in time to keep from rear-ending a parked car.

"Crap," Chance dived into the front and grabbed hold of the wheel. "Just keep off the gas," he said as he began to intentionally steer into brushes and the curb to bleed off speed.

"Carter's behind us," Jake added.

"Too bad we can't ask him to help stop us," Marie muttered from where she was squished against the seat by Chance's significant mass. "I could try switching gears?"

"I think we'll be okay," Chance said as he aimed for the tail of a larger car just starting up from a red light.

"What the hell are you d-" Marie started to demand before they impacted the car in front of them, bringing themselves to a relatively controlled stop as the other car stopped.

"Stopping," Chance managed to get out as he tried to fight the air bag and regain his breath. "Damn things are dangerous," he growled as Carter walked up to the driver side door and reached in to deactivate the air bag.

"Why can't I be surprised?" Carter sighed as he saw who was in the car.

"This is _so_ not my fault," Marie managed to get out once she had her breath again. "Couldn't do anything...."

"Brakes went out," Chance added as he backed into the front passenger seat and quickly put the car in park. "This is _not_ normal."

"Steering was wonky too," Marie added.

"Put your hood up," Carter said, earning a quizzical look from Marie as she did so, and the Sheriff walked up to make sure nothing was wrong in the other car.

"Carter, _what_ is going on?" Allison demanded even as she recognized who had just rear-ended her. "And why are you under their hood."

"Because this is the second time a car has had its brake and steering lines eaten through," he told her after standing up. "We have a saboteur in Eureka."

"Same as Cindy's?" Chance asked, climbing out and coming around to look.

"Looks like it," Carter nodded grimily.

"What does Ms. Orwell have to do with you three?" Allison asked.

"Not sure," Chance admitted. "But I'd say an enemy in common, at least. Acid on the brake and steering lines ... sorry about hitting you, but it seemed better to stop that way than to risk a more serious accident."

"Henry can fix that in no time," she said, no longer caring about such minor things. "It's just a bumper hit. This is much more."

"Whoever did this couldn't have done it right before we got in," Marie pointed out. "We'd have seen them coming out of GD ... we've been in control of the vehicle long enough it would have hit earlier, or would've had to happen while we were getting dinner at the Cafe."

"Easy enough to check, given the cameras around here, and at GD," Carter said as Henry's tow truck pulled up.

"I don't suppose we could get a lift home?" Marie asked as Henry got out to deal with the car. "I'd really rather not have to start filing paperwork at this hour."

"Sorry, but it needs to be done while it's fresh in your memory," Carter told her.

"What else has to be done before we get going then?" She asked with a sigh.

"I'll need everyone's statements, and photograph the scene," he narrowed it down to the minimum.

"Recording's done," Henry piped up.

"Which means it's time to get the statements," Carter said easily, leading them all off the road as Henry started to get Marie's car out of the way.

"At least we'll have food," Chance tried to make the best of it as he grabbed the Cafe Diem bag and mentally settle in for a long night.

* * *

Marie opened one eye as Chance roared from his side of the bed, the moans and grunts that had come before it working with the feel of Jake sucking the larger tom off to start waking her up. Chance's climax just finished the job, really, and gave her a handy target to bop with a pillow before reaching under the covers to scritch Jake's head along with Chance.

"Morning," Jake grinned cheekily at her, then licked Chance's cock sheath to tip. "Did we wake you?"

"Yes," she chuckled, reaching down to scritch the base of his neck. It sent a tingle down her back the way he arched up into the touch. "But I've had worse wakeup calls," she added, accepting a kiss from Chance as the tabby leaned over towards her.

"So mind sharing him, or want your own solo round?" Chance grinned at her.

"Mmm... I think I could do with a round before we go making a Jake sandwich," she grinned at them both, sitting up and kissing Jake, tasting Chance's seed in his mouth before the lean tom pushed her back down onto the bed. His cock was hard and hot against her belly as she spread her legs and brought her knees up to expose herself to him.

She moaned into his mouth when he shifted back and rubbed along her swelling mons before he reached down with one hand to spread them and pressed into her body with a swift thrust forward.

She moaned again, closing her eyes and wrapping her legs around his waist, his tail curling over her shins as she hugged him close and squeezed down around his shaft.

"Missed you," she murmured as their lips parted, licking his chin as he started to thrust into her. "Worried 'bout you."

"I'm tough to kill, and too stubborn to die," he murmured in reassurance as their bodies found their rhythm and it was his turn to groan. He lowered his head to kiss and lick at her neck affectionately with no attempt to hide or hinder what her body did to him. "Missed being home."

"Just have to... oooh... make sure you don't end up in that sorta shape again," she purred, milking his barbed shaft, tightening her legs to help his thrusts as she raked her claws down his back lightly.

"At least not unplanned," he shuddered with a groan and began to thrust harder, his balls tightening against his body as his cock tingled and twitched.

"Oh yeah... do it, Jake, fill me up," she moaned, shifting her hips so his cock rubbed against her g-spot and his pelvis rubbed her clit, trying to get off along with him.

"Damn you two are hot together," Chance rumbled as he stroked himself lightly. He breathed in the rich arousal of his mate and lover as they kissed and moaned. His own breath caught a bit when Jake's movements changed; harder, faster, and the muscles of his body tensed in the moments before he came.

Marie cried out, her body spasming as she came along with him, milking his seed deep into her body as they made out with each other and Chance as the opportunities presented themselves. Eventually, they cooled a bit and Jake looked over at his mate with a grin and raised tail.

"Jake sandwich?" Jake asked seductively.

"Of course," the tabby grinned as Marie lowered her legs to give him room to mount Jake, rubbing against his tight ass. "Mmm... still stretched out enough from last night?" He asked, leaning down to lick Jake's ear lightly.

"I think so," he chuckled and rubbed back with an anticipating rumble.

"Besides," Marie purred from beneath him. "You know the only reason you need to prep him is because I like the show," she winked. Chance grinned and shifted to press into Jake's tight ass with a low groan.

"Oooh... nah... I like it too," he winked.

"We all do," Jake relaxed and let Chance set the rhythm before adding his own body to it fully. "Love you both," he moaned and reveled in the dual pleasure.

* * *

Sheriff Carter sighed deeply as he took off his jacket just inside S.A.R.A.H.'s door and felt a small part of him relax in relief when it sealed shut with a small sucking sound. He really was starting to feel safe inside this bunker, despite the fact it was built on B.R.A.D., and B.R.A.D. was a complete psycho. The world outside had far too many dangers in comparison, and S.A.R.A.H. would keep his vehicles safe.

"Dad!" Zoe nearly burst in greeting, her eyes shining with fear-laced concern. "Is everyone all right?"

"Everyone?" He looked down at her, too tired to be sure what she was talking about.

"Chance, Jake and Marie ... and Allison," Zoe elaborated. "The accident that wasn't one."

"How do you know about that?" He asked her, raising an eyebrow.

"Dinner will be ready shortly, Sheriff," S.A.R.A.H. offered.

"Thank you, S.A.R.A.H.," he said by reflex.

"Come on, Dad, this is Eureka. Anything interesting is all over the local net as it's happening," she rolled her eyes. "A car crash in front of the sheriff's office qualifies as 'interesting' around here."

"Uh-huh. Aren't you supposed to be...."

"Grounded, yeah," she sighed, rolling her eyes. "Current events homework," she offered.

"Right," Carter said, clearly unconvinced. "Well, no, they're not hurt. The cars are a bit banged up, but it could've been a lot worse."

"What about the connection to the other car crash, the one where that Doc got hurt bad," she asked. "You guys said it was the same sabotage."

"Okay, I want to know who's putting this up on the net," Carter grumbled. "Yes, it was sabotage, and it _looks_ like the same method, but Henry isn't entirely sure yet. Could just be a copycat."

"You don't think it is though," Zoe said, more than asked.

"No, I don't," he admitted. "They're just good enough not to leave proof behind yet."

"Well, who do the two targets have in common?" she asked and sat down after pulling a meatloaf and roasted potatoes from the oven.

"Aside from working at GD, one woman of questionable sanity with a fixation on Chance," Carter explained, sitting down as S.A.R.A.H. set the table. "There's not much I can do about it though. Chance doesn't want to file for a restraining order, and we don't have reasonable cause to believe she's connected to the crime at all."

"Skip the cop-talk and go with logic," Zoe countered in a rather different focus that her norm. "Forget proving a crime and focus on who's doing all this and why. Prove it once folks are safe. What do you have?"

"You know, I seem to remember that _I_ used to be the cop," he pointed out dryly. "Our best suspect is a woman who's at least obsessed with the two of them, mostly Chance. She tried to kill herself after he refused to go out with her again, jumping in front of a car. She _might_ have gone after Cindy because she and Chance have gone out several times, but there's no other connection between them, and no evidence to say she actually did it. 

"We _know_ that she was involved in the incident with Jake that got the TurboKat taken out a few days ago," he said, glossing over the details he did _not_ want her to know about, "and the day Jake gets out of the hospital, Marie's car is sabotaged the same way as Cindy's, though it looks like this time the sabotage was set up earlier. Chance, Jake, and Marie are all convinced she's responsible, and I can't blame them, but all I can find against her right now is that she's the type of person who _might_ do something like this. For her part, she sounded genuinely scared that Chance might've been hurt, and shocked that all this had happened... of course, around here, I might've just been talking to the good clone," he grumbled. "So, even if it is her, there's not much to be done about her but watching, and it's getting to the point where I'm the only one who can do that ... and everything else that involves leaving the office."

"Have you gotten Stark to give you her movements since the first incident?" Zoe asked between bites of meatloaf. "Good cooking, S.A.R.A.H.."

"Thank you, Zoe," the house said appreciatively.

"He hasn't coughed them up yet," Carter muttered.

"You can ask Jake to get them," she suggested sweetly.

"I'd rather avoid asking somebody to break the law until it becomes clear that Stark is going to keep stonewalling, at this point... I'll think about it though," he murmured. "I'm all for the right to privacy, but he's being a little ridiculous about it just now."

"When isn't he?" Zoe pointed out evenly.

" _Usually_ when it's somebody he respects who's in danger," Carter pointed out. "And after two attempts, I'd think that he'd realize Jake is. Maybe he'll get to work on it ... if he doesn't, then I'll _really_ start thinking about Jake."

"Yeah, poor guy's a real damage magnet," she nodded a bit and sipped her apple juice. "Might not hurt to ask Chance about a restraining order against her for Jake. He's a lot more protective of him than himself."

"Now _that_ might work, and it's pretty damned clear we've got cause for it," Carter nodded, finally starting in on his own dinner. "Have to make _Jake_ let us know when she breaks it yet, but that might even help us get access to her whereabouts."

"It would also keep her locked out of any room where he is in GD," Zoe added. "At least anywhere that requires any kind of clearance. The computer system could enforce the order. At least around the labs and hangers he's usually in, even if nowhere else. Actually, the system could be set to call you when she gets into the range, even if he's not aware of it yet."

"I'd just thought about that," he nodded. "I'll call after dinner, see if I can get Chance on the line to talk about it."

"Talk to Marie too," Zoe grinned mischievously. "She can get them to do nearly _anything_ ."

"If they thought _she_ was in serious danger, I'd have to put Melody under protective custody," Carter chuckled grimly. "Hell, came close enough after that bit with Jake. Chance does _not_ handle people he cares about getting hurt well."

"Doesn't sound like it would be much of a loss," Zoe muttered a bit. "Those guys have been through enough just being here."

"Yeah, but if something like that happens I don't want _them_ getting the fallout," Carter pointed out. "They don't deserve that either."

"No, they don't," Zoe admitted. "Can she be barred from property, legally? Like the cars and homes of everyone she's thought to have attacked so far?"

"It's already covered under trespassing laws," Carter explained. "Just can't enforce it without us spotting it, her setting off an alarm, or Stark giving us access to her records. Maybe I can talk Jo into upping the patrols around here," he mused.

"She still _seriously_ ill-tempered?" she asked with a bit of a snicker.

"Oh yeah, and will be for about another six months or so," Carter nodded. "So trust me. Once you're out of here, you _don't_ want to get her mad at you."

"She likes me," Zoe pointed out with a smirk. "She doesn't like you. How many puppies will there be?"

"Four, it sounds like, but she doesn't like talking about it," he told her. "I think she's just looking forward to it being over with and letting Taggart and Dr. Moreau adopt them."

"Can't really blame her," Zoe murmured. "I just hope she doesn't regret it eventually."

"Same here... at least if she does, it's not like they'll be scattered around the country. She's not about to leave Eureka, and neither are Taggart and Moreau."

"True," she nodded. "Anything else interesting going on out there?"

"Fargo called earlier, rambling something about shrews," Carter chuckled. "I think he's been getting a couple hits from that paranoia ray; said they were the size of collies. I told him to call Taggart instead and haven't heard about it since."

"Oh, brother," Zoe rolled her eyes. "That or another Moreau project got lose."

"After what happened with Jaeger, if that's the case I'm going to personally wring his neck," Carter grumbled, settling in to finish his dinner.

* * *

Taggart closed the door to his truck as he stepped out and pulled his rifle out of the back. He adjusted his hat and started up towards Fargo's place, where the door to the basement was open and he could hear what sounded for all the world like a woman screaming.

"Hello Fargo," he called out cheerfully as he climbed down the stairs, seeing the lanky scientist huddled up on a stack of boxes, poking at a small pack of dog-sized shrews with a broomstick as they tried to climb up after him.

"Will you just get rid of them?" Fargo screeched in open panic.

"No problem," Taggart said easily, chambering a tranquilizer dart and firing it at the first one, which dropped quickly. The other three turned towards the new target and started running towards him. He ducked behind the door, switching over to bullets and picking off the shrews as they charged up towards him.

"That all there is?" He called down to Fargo.

"All I can see," he answered. "No telling how many there are out there."

"Don't suppose you have any idea where they came from?" Taggart asked, starting down to go collect the tranquilized one for later study.

"Now how would I know that?" Fargo demanded. "I don't do genetics."

"I meant if you'd seen where they came from," Taggart said dryly. "Before you decided to crawl up there and poke them with a stick until they got angry."

"They started that way," Fargo protested, not climbing back down until after Taggart had restrained the surviving animal and the three corpses in the back of his truck.

"Where did they come from?" Taggart repeated.

"They came from that nut-case's farm," he waved towards Seth Osborne's farm.

"Thank you. I'll go have a word with Seth, maybe he knows a bit more about it," Taggart said easily, starting to climb into his truck. He didn't want to leave the tranquilized one here, restrained or not.

"H-hey! What if those things come back here?"

"You know my number," Taggart shrugged before pulling out and heading over to Seth's.

* * *

Jo lifted her head from the custom-made bed in Taggart's bunker. It was where she felt safest, where sleep came easiest now. She felt the she-wolf growing stronger every week as her pregnancy progressed, and she knew she'd den here when it was time.

What drew her attention now was a much more pleasant prospect; actually getting to spend most of the night with Jim. He'd been out for the better part of three hours already ... but now she heard his truck pulling up outside the building. She'd wanted to go with him, but he'd told her she needed the rest and headed out on his own instead. Now, as he opened the door in the front room, she picked up a strange scent.

Rodent, tranqs, the unnatural edge so many animals around Eureka tended to have. No blood to speak of though.

"Jim?" She called out. "Everything go okay?"

"Perfect!" He called back. "Problem taken care of for now, got one live to study, plenty of bodies, and ... gimme a minute," he said, stopping by the door briefly to poke his head in before continuing back to his holding pen, giving her a brief look at the thumping animal carrier that was being wheeled behind him. A few minutes later, he was back, looking as cheerfully satisfied as she usually felt after a good day at the target range.

"So, how're you feeling?" He asked her as he stripped down with a natural lack of modesty she'd never have.

"Like they're trying to kick me open," she muttered, though her eyes moved over his body with much more interest than usual. "So what was out there, at first guess?"

"For once, I think Fargo got it right; giant shrews," Taggart chuckled and joined her in the bed, running his hand along her gravid belly. "Not sure what made 'em grow, but best bet is that Seth was playing around with all-natural fertilizers and came up with something a little more potent than expected."

"Mmm, so nothing that won't wait until tomorrow to sort out," she shifted to licked his near bald head and slid a hand along his side in return. 

"Not unless somebody else has one get inside," he chuckled, nuzzling her neck and pressing close to her. While he didn't dare say anything about it, to have her all but initiate this much contact sent a real thrill through his body. "Think I could see your face tonight, if your hands couldn't get to me?"

"How are you going to manage that?" she asked as the back of her large, furred fingers slid up his hardening cock. While the idea clearly appealed to her, the idea of being restrained made her more than a bit edgy.

"I do have material capable of holding you," he kissed her gently, and found her mouth open and tongue lightly against his lips. He quite willingly gave her access and waited for it to end. "You know I won't take advantage of you."

"No, you won't," she murmured, and apparently made her choice by raising her arms to the headboard, her wrists close together.

He got up and retrieved a set of high-strength restraints and came back to bed to fasten her hands above her head. 

She watched every move, both of them fully aware that she could get out if she truly felt the need to, and that she was hardly helpless with only her hands bound. Still, it made her feel more comfortable about facing her lover when she came and it gave Jim the view he had missed so much in recent months.

He got back on the bed and knelt next to her to fondle a lowest set of breasts and nuzzling the top one, before he took one nipple into his mouth and suckled, swirling his tongue around the hardening flesh.

"Love you," he murmured, working her body, one hand sliding down to caress her belly and sides, reaching down to rub her thigh. She was so much larger than he was that it forced him to take things slow, to explore her thickly furred body.

It was hardly something he minded, hard as it was for her to believe it. He shifted up, kissing her neck tenderly. Her puppy-like whimpering moans were plenty of encouragement, as was the small taste of milk that squirted into his mouth as he suckled one of her lower breasts; one that was far enough down that he could slide a leg between hers to rub against her slick sex.

Finally, he moved down, kneeling between her powerful legs as he started to kiss down her belly towards her swollen, wet sex, finally kissing her clit and suckling it lightly.

"Oh _yes_ ," Jo nearly howled and pressed her hips forward, against his face, in a wordless demand for more.

He pressed his fingers into her pussy, thrusting lightly, stretching her out, quickly working more of his hand in until his entire fist was inside of her, actually giving her larger body the sort of stretching it was built for as he kept suckling at her clit and nipping her labia lightly. Her arousal was potent, even to his weaker sense of smell, and his cock ached with need.

He could read it in her body, in her vocalizations, that she was very close to the edge. It was all he needed to ignore his desires and play on hers until her body clamped down on his fist and forearm, working the hard limb with a fluttering string of contractions that was designed to force her mate to fill her with his seed.

Instead, he rode it out, wincing slightly behind her belly as he felt her body tighten around him so much that he was _sure_ he'd have some interesting bruises to explain to anybody who saw him with his sleeves up the next few days. The sounds of pleasure and contentment she made were _more_ than worth it though.

He continued to suckle her clit until the contractions died down, then lifted his head to nuzzle the bottom of her enlarged belly.

"Up for a little more?" he asked softly, dearly hopping she was.

"Yes," she trembled slightly as he withdrew his arm from her body. "Oh, yes."

"Good," he rumbled, shifting to raise her legs a bit, her belly shifting up as he pressed himself into her sex with a low groan. He started to thrust his painfully hard shaft into her body as he watched her face.

Her eyes were closed, her mouth slightly open, and she was relaxed as he rocked back and forth, quickly bringing himself to the edge. Only then did she start to tighten her body around him, giving him even more friction to work against.

"Howl, baby," Jo moaned.

He obliged her, pressing as deeply into her body as he could, throwing his head back with a lusty howl, pouring his seed into her sex as she continued to work him.

"Mmm, that was good," Jo murmured as he leaned forward, spent and trying to catch his breath

"I'd say more like great," he agreed, shifting to lie beside her before he undid her restraints and snuggled close to her. "Sleep well, Jo," he murmured, giving her a light kiss.

* * *

Melody waited outside Quin's office for a few moments as he finished a phone call. He'd called her a few minutes before, telling her to come down to his lab so they could talk about their 'agreement.'

She just didn't know what he was worried about ... maybe he wanted to make sure there wasn't a duplicate copy or something like that.

When she heard him hang up, she stepped inside, closing the door behind her.

"You wanted to talk about something?" She asked him, taking a seat in his guest chair.

"I heard what you did with my perfume," he faced her squarely. "That was _far_ from a harmless joke."

"And what did you hear that I did?" She asked him, keeping her reaction neutral until she knew just what she was up against here. "And just what do you plan to do because of it?"

"I plan to go to the sheriff with what I created for you, and why," he said simply. "What he does with the information isn't my concern anymore."

"What he _can_ do with it is damned little," she pointed out. "I didn't do anything illegal, Quin... and before you go to him, you might want to think about a couple little things. First off, if you do, I _do_ have more than just the one recording of your little indiscretion. Second... just _what_ do you think it would do to your career here if Stark found out about this? And your involvement?"

"Vera has already been given the disk you left with me. I knew you'd have another to send if you felt like it. As for my career, I may have given in the first time, but you've now tried to blackmail another Global employee twice. It's not going to go well on you, and it will put you at the top of the suspect list for the sabotage on Dr. Clawson's project. I accepted the fallout before I called you. You have nothing to blackmail me with."

"Why would I try to kill two test pilots just to make Clawson look bad?" She asked, rolling her eyes. "You're not going to be anybody's white knight if you do this, Quin. You're just going to stir things up and put yourself in the middle of it along with me. I haven't done anything illegal, and they already _know_ I'm the one who was with him. He wasn't even _really_ hurt all that bad; _he's_ the one who went and swam around in cold water for two days."

"Same reason you wanted to smell like his girlfriend badly enough to blackmail me to do it," he shrugged. "I'm not pretending to understand how you think. I'm just telling you what is about to be handed over to people you clearly don't want to have it. After all, if you _really_ haven't done anything wrong, you wouldn't have tried to blackmail me a second time to stop me from turning the information over, now would you?"

"Oh how _very_ considerate of you," she muttered, her voice dripping with venom as she stood and started back towards her office, slamming his door behind her.

"Did you get all of that, sir?" Dr. Cather flipped on the video com line to Dr Stark's office.

"Yes, I did," Stark sounded even less pleased than usual. "Thank you for your honesty. I will deal with her shortly."

"Yes, sir," Dr. Cather nodded and sighed as the screen went black. He stood and picked up all the evidence he had to hand over to the sheriff and headed out of his office to the meeting he had with Carter at the sheriff's office.

A few minutes later, he was there, waiting for the Sheriff to get off the phone with Henry.

"Mr. Furlong," he said politely to Chance, who was waiting in the corner. "I'm glad you're here," he admitted.

"Really?" he raised an eyebrow. "What's up?"

"I have some information about what happened between Doctors Clawson and Wilson," he explained, and swallowed as he very abruptly became the focus of someone who definitely looked like he was capable of killing. "At least some of how she managed to convince him to play along."

"How," Chance leaned forward, every fiber of his being focused on this human he didn't know.

"I'd rather wait until the Sheriff's finished to explain it," Quin said, glancing over at Carter as he hung up the phone.

"Finished," he said easily. "Now, what's this information you have?"

"I'm afraid that I may have inadvertently been responsible for her being able to get started," he explained. "I work in the biology section, specializing in pheromones. She came to me one day and blackmailed me into preparing a perfume for her that would simulate the scent of a particular individual. She didn't say who then, but she didn't deny it was to get close to Dr. Clawson earlier today."

"That'd go a long ways," Chance growled. "It wouldn't affect his memory, though."

"I don't know anything about that part of it," Quin admitted. "All I know is that she gave me a cloth sample that had the proper chemicals on it and told me to work from that. I still have part of the sample with me here," he added, handing Carter the folder. "Along with a small sample of the perfume I created, in case you want to verify what I'm telling you."

"That will be most useful," Carter took the package before Chance could. "Have you told Dr. Stark of this yet?"

"Yes," Quin nodded. "We recorded the entire conversation Dr. Wilson and I had earlier today. He said he would deal with her. I'm not sure what that will be."

"Are you going to want to press charges against her for extortion?" Carter asked him, sincerely hoping he would. At least then he'd have something he could use against her.

"No," Quin said, shaking his head. "I couldn't do that to my family; this is already going to put a strain on us as it is."

"I understand," Carter didn't hide his disappointment. "Thank you for the information."

"How many doses does she have of this perfume?" Chance asked.

"Depends on how much of it she uses, and if she cuts it at all," Quin explained. "But at the normal recommended doses, I _gave_ her ten. Up to a certain point, the synthesis is easier to handle in larger amounts than smaller. She might have used one, or she might have used more ... I don't know," he admitted.

"With that much, she probably has enough for at least one more go at Jake," Chance shuddered, half in fear, half in fury.

"That's what the restraining order is to prevent," Carter tried to calm him down.

"You'll want to get that put in _fast_ ," Quin warned them. "She had a reputation at the last place we worked; she doesn't take well to people who interfere with what she wants. Part of the reason I didn't come to you in the first place, honestly... I just didn't think she'd do _anything_ like what ended up happening, the perfume shouldn't have allowed for that."

"It's what we're headed to do now," Carter said and stood from his desk.

"It wasn't just the perfume," Chance told him. "She used another drug too, we just don't know what yet."

"If I could help you with that at all, I would," Quin told him. "But I don't know anything about that. Good luck with her; you're both going to need it."

"Once we deliver the restraining order, I would like to sit down with you tonight, possibly with Jake and Chance, and go over what you know of Melody Wilson, rumored and fact," Carter hoped he wasn't pushing it too far. "I can get it, but it will take weeks. It won't have to get out that you've done any more than given over this evidence."

"Would it help your wife any if we thanked her for dealing with this to help us?" Chance offered.

"It might," Quin nodded. "Though she's dealt with most of it already ... this just brings it all back. I should probably be getting back to the office; do you need a lift there?" He asked Chance.

"We'll take my Jeep," Carter shook his head. "It is official business."

"Thanks for the offer," Chance nodded to Quin.

* * *

A few miles away, Melody was doing her very best not to lash out at her boss. It was so stupid a thing for him to be upset about. It wasn't like she'd actually hurt anyone's productivity or asked Quin for sensitive information. He'd been talking for over half an hour now and showed little sign of slowing down.

Stark _so_ needed to get laid. The guy needed to unwind in such a bad way. Of course, he was even less her type than Jake was ... and offering wouldn't really help just now.

"What are you going to do, Dr. Stark?" She asked him after he finished reading her the riot act, her tone slightly more submissive than the words were, but not by much.

"Restrict your access to this site to what is absolutely required for your work and put you under review," he answered evenly. "The sheriff has more for you. You really should reconsider what you obsess on. Some people here are capable of making your ideas look calm."

"Will that be all, sir?" She asked him politely.

"Yes," he nodded. "The sheriff has you now," he motioned to the door that opened on cue to reveal Sheriff Carter and Chance's human form.

"Sheriff," she said, standing up and turning around, expecting this to be over quickly. "Chance," she said, with more of a smile for him that was greeted with open disdain.

"You are being served with a restraining order barring you from coming within twenty yards of Jake Clawson, contacting him in any manner except through the sheriff's office, barring you from coming within 100 yards of his home and Marie Moreau's home, and from all locations where he works in Global Dynamics."

"Excuse me?" She asked with a blink, stunned. "Just because I-"

"Don't even _try_ it," Chance growled lowly.

"The computer system has already been programmed to enforce the second half of that order." Stark told her. "It will also give you a _brief_ warning for the first half, before calling the Sheriff."

"You claim what happened was consensual," Carter reminded her. "Everything else, including Jake's history and lack of memories, says otherwise. I might not be able to prove rape _yet_ , Ms. Wilson, but given he does not claim what happened was consensual, it is more than enough to bar you from his presence."

"And that does include public places like Cafe Diem if he's there," Chance added with an open glare, nearly daring her to break the order.

"And if _he_ comes closer to _me_ ?" She demanded. "I'm not going to be thrown out of places because he came in in the middle of my lunch."

"No, you will not be," Carter said. "At least not because of the restraining order. Any other questions?"

"How long is this in effect?" She asked, unable to really come up with any more questions than that ... though she was obviously fuming.

"Three years, likely to become permanent." Carter told her and forced her to take the papers he had offered before.

She took them, only barely restraining herself, and that mostly because of the three people watching her.

"May I leave now?" She asked archly, her voice tight.

"Yes," Carter nodded and stepped aside, letting her stalk out silently.

* * *

"Hey Chance!" Tonya said cheerfully as she opened her door to the tabby early the next night, wearing nothing more than a slip as she greeted him. "How's Jake?"

"Recovered, and obsessed with finding out what happened to his jet again," he grinned with a tolerant roll of his eyes. "I thought you wanted to hit Heat Wave before the fun started?"

"I do," she grinned. "But I thought I'd give you a little say in how I dressed tonight," she added, closing the door behind him and pulling her slip off to reveal her naked, golden-brown body. "Then we can go show off for a bit before finding a private room," she added, reaching down to caress his leather-clad thigh lightly as she walked back towards another room.

"As long as the private room is in the plans," he chuckled and followed her. When she paused he slid his arms around her body and kissed her neck. "You have too hot a body to ignore for long."

"Mmm ... behave until I'm dressed, and I'll give you a little bonus before we go," she rumbled, bringing up a three-dimensional model of herself on the computer. "Want me to match you, roughly?" She asked him, looking over the tabby in his club leathers and coming up with a few ideas.

"Always a plus," he licked his lips but kept his hands to himself. "You could get away with showing nearly as much chest too."

"I probably could," she giggled. "Especially the way I do it ... so, you want to take the chance I'll get hauled in, or should I be a good girl tonight?" She asked teasingly.

"It's dark, he'll never tell if he's even out," Chance purred deeply. "You know I like it better when you're a naughty girl."

"Oh really? So, when Christmas comes around this year will you be making the rounds of the naughty girls' houses?" She teased, typing a few things in, bringing up some templates and quickly changing her model into a tiger-striped female wearing a sprayed-on 'leather' vest and matching 'shorts.' "How's this for a start?" She asked. "The boots will be real on this one, at least the shoe portion," she mused, tinkering around with measurements for the legs.

"Looks good to me," he considered it with what little ability to be critical that he had with her standing naked in front of him. "I like the thigh-high boots."

"Okay," she grinned, setting those in. "I'll put on the shoes then, use the spray for the rest ... mind helping me get my hair out of the way?" She asked, loading the finished 'pattern' into ... something, Chance wasn't sure what.

"Sure," he agreed, utterly willing to do just about anything she asked; mostly because he knew she was reasonable about it. He claimed a quick kiss and fondled her breasts briefly before he slid his hands up her chest to catch her thick, strait brown hair and held it out of the way. "You are gorgeous just like that, you know."

"Why thank you," she giggled, pulling open a drawer and removing a hair cover from it. "But like this, I can't go walking around and making people look and wonder if I'm _really_ naked or not," she shivered, putting her hair up under the cap. "I'm going to use my spray-room for the base coats, then you can help me with the stripes and clothes?" She suggested, turning to give him a light kiss.

"Sure thing," he gave her a playful lick on the nose and used her momentary distraction as she turned to enter the spray-room to adjust his crotch to be a little more comfortable.

She put a small breathing mask over her face once she headed in, then Chance got to see her put her full-scale setup to work on herself. She used what looked for all the world like a power-sprayer for painting a car to put the first 'undercoat' of pale cream on, then a brighter orange color over that before taking the mask off and taking a few minutes to paint her face up as the base coats set in. Then she came out, her body covered in what looked like a pliable coating of latex.

"So, up for putting the stripes on me?" She asked Chance as she gave him a light twirl, her colors fully set.

"Sure," he nodded. "How?"

"For most of them, start with these for the broad stripes," she explained, handing him a can labeled 'black #5,' "then we'll smooth out the edges with the detail brush. Same process with the leathers later, but I'll be using navy #36 for them. By the way, how's Cindy doing? Forgot to ask earlier."

"She's recovered, and got on the plane safely this time," he said easily and did his best to be artistic in applying the black to create her stripes. His mind was more on when he'd get to play with the brush. "Do you have a white for some teasing detail work and a bit of your chest?"

"Of course," she said easily, letting him work. "That comes after the stripes, before the leathers. Mmm ... you're behaving well," she pointed out approvingly.

"Pilots _do_ need to be disciplined when we need it," he made a poor attempt to sound insulted. "Besides, I'm easy to bribe with a promise of goodies afterwards."

"And I haven't forgotten that promise yet," she teased. "Most guys just get a little more touchy-feely than this the first time I ask them to help me 'dress,'" she explained as Chance shifted to the brushes.

"Does that mean I can behave a little more badly and still have fun later?" he asked with a mischievous grin as he played with the edge of a stripe that highlighted the curve of her hip.

"Anything that screws up the paint job, and you're out of luck," she smirked, holding stock still as he worked. "Then you'll just have to wait until I'm good and ready for you later. Up to that ... I'll give you a warning first," she winked.

"Understood," he nodded and went to work with serious focus, part of him honestly unaware that he was painting on a naked lover. "Do the layers come off in order too?"

"If we do it right," she nodded slightly. "The ones you're putting on now dissolve with a mild acid; I'll get you the water-soluble for the clothes."

"Mild enough that it won't dissolve you too, right?" he flicked a glance up, the question oddly serious.

"Vinegar, Chance," she said, rolling her eyes. "Kinky, not stupid. It smells, but it's something I can be pretty sure won't come up accidentally. This way, if somebody spills a drink on me, I don't end up naked, like that little incident at the pool when I got the two mixed up and my swimsuit went away."

"Yeah, but it was a really nice sight," he grinned and began to trace a fairly intricate line of black around where her pubic hair had been, mimicking a decorative but natural outline in black to be filled in with white.

"Mmm ... so, did you do the detail work in the garage?" She asked him, still not physically responding, though he could smell her own faintly growing arousal as the brush worked over the sensitive skin there.

"Only for special customers," he grinned. "Mmm, I think I need to do a little clean-up work here," he purred before licking along her slit teasingly. "You really should be completely clean."

"Ooh... you _do_ realize that the shorts will cover up most of what's down there?" She asked him teasingly, reaching down to flick one of his ears playfully.

"Yes, but when they come off, it should look perfect," he caressed her slit with his tongue again even as he worked on her leg with the brush.

"Not the back of my knee," she warned him as he approached it, though her fingers did shift to give him a more thorough head scratching as his tongue worked along her slit, earning a low moan.

"Right," Chance avoided the spot before he pressed his tongue a little deeper into her slit to caress the swollen flesh inside.

"Oooh..." She moaned softly, leaning her head back as he lapped up her juices, his rough tongue working through the pale material covering her and into her sex, where her flesh, taste, and scent were all fully exposed to him.

"Much better," he purred and began to really work her sex, occasionally teasing her clit.

"Mmm ... still think I should've just stayed naked?" She asked him teasingly, groaning lowly as his claws teased her clit while his tongue began to delve into her body. "Won't be long," she moaned, trembling slightly.

He shifted his hands to help hold her up when she lost herself and pressed his muzzle against her sex so his nose stimulated her clit while his tongue worked the sensitive flesh inside her.

She pressed against his muzzle needily, her body spasming around his tongue as she came, her juices dribbling down his face as he held her up and continued to thrust his tongue into her, licking at her inner walls, until she was nearly limp in his hands and gasping for breath with every shudder.

"Mmm ... if we manage to finish up, I'll return the favor," she murmured, reaching down to scratch his ears lightly as he relaxed his hold on her ass.

"Oh, we will," he promised with a grin and picked up the brush again.

"Good," she grinned back, relaxing and letting him get back to work.

* * *

Nearly two hours later they finally arrived at Heat Wave, ready to dance, drink and socialize now that their lusts were sated for a time. As they headed in, the party was already in full swing, as usual; it was already about nine, and the club had been open for an hour.

"Your usual atomic?" Tonya asked him as they made their way over towards the bar, catching more than a few glances from the club-goers, more for her tiger-stripes than for her not-very-obvious nudity.

"Of course," he grinned and kissed her cheek. "Then the dance floor."

"Sounds good to me," she grinned, ordering their drinks, taking her Irish coffee once it was ready and taking a sip from it while Chance's more complicated atomic was made. "By the way, how'd that catnip vodka you mentioned work out for you guys?" She asked him curiously, licking some whipped cream from her lips.

"Vincent makes _good_ stuff," he grinned as delightful memories of that night on a serious buzz filled with sex and his mate flooded back. "Just strong enough for a really good buzz, not so strong that it messed with the fun. I'm sure he must have consulted with Marie some to get it that good on the first try."

"Probably, but hey, as long as it worked," she grinned. "Maybe we'll be able to talk them into keeping a bottle in reserve for you here," she winked. "One of these made with that would probably have you wound up all night," she added, holding her drink up with a smirk.

"Oh _yeah_ ," he grinned, decidedly excited by the idea. "I'll ask Vincent to make one up for them."

"And I'll make sure the folks in charge know to watch out for you when they break it out," she teased, leaning over to give him a light kiss as he was given his drink. "Especially if you've got Jake with you; they'll have to make sure they've got at least two of the private rooms clear at all times."

"If Jake's with me, I'll be going with him," Chance purred deeply and downed the atomic. "The guy does it for me."

"You've really got it for him, don't you?" She asked him easily, leaning back and giving one of her admirers from the dance floor a good look at her painted ass. "Don't think I've met him before," she mused.

"Almost thirty years, Earth time, we've been a combat team. He gave me back my wings," he added more softly. "I owe him everything."

"But it's not a debt or honor that keeps you with him," she smiled faintly and drew him out onto the dance floor. "I can tell just the way you look when you talk about him."

"Nope," Chance chuckled, following her out, the two of them quickly getting into the rhythm of the song that was starting. "Even if he doesn't always believe it, there's more there than just that."

"You're so devoted, and as I heard it, you all but set him up with his girlfriend," she looked up with a curious expression as she pressed close, relishing the feel of his hard, aroused body against her, the leather and fur pressing against her painted skin.

"It's how we are," Chance said with a tolerant chuckle, used to explaining this. "I'm not exactly a one-guy tom, in case you haven't noticed," he smirked. "Those two were practically made for each other, so I figured I'd help Jake realize it."

"Does he let you play with her too?" she asked with a playful expression.

"Oh yeah," Chance chuckled, getting the general direction she was heading in, brushing his tail against her thigh lightly. "Really gets off on watching us too."

"Mmm, so is the hotshot pilot Kat enough to take on two women in front of his partner?" She half-challenged.

"Want me to go prove it to you over there?" He asked with a grin, nodding towards one of the private rooms. "Marie doesn't really do girls though, just so you know."

"That just means you'd have to satisfy us both, now doesn't it?" she pressed up against him and cupped his ass in her hands.

"I think I can manage," he purred, reaching back to squeeze hers. "Mmm ... should I set up a date some time?" He asked, kissing her slowly.

"I think it'd be fun," Tonya rubbed up against his crotch, enjoying the low sound she earned from him. "One on your cock, one on your tongue, your partner watching you make us squirm and scream."

"Oooh ... I'll talk to 'em about it," he purred, starting to guide her towards one of the back rooms. "How about a practice round for now?"

"Anytime, handsome," she slid a hand along the inside of his thigh from the back. "Willing to give up your jacket, or are you going to leave me dressed?"

"I think I could let you borrow it," he purred. "Want to go check out a room, I'll get something to take this off with?" He asked her, tracing a fingertip over the material covering one of her breasts.

"Sounds good to me," she shivered and turned to the main counter to get a key.

He grinned, heading up to the bar to get a glass of ice water and a washcloth, his pants tight as he thought about what they'd be doing shortly.

Unfortunately, as he stepped up to the bar, he saw an all-too-familiar blonde sitting there.

"Well, this is a surprise," Melody observed as she noticed him, looking him up and down appreciatively. "Nice outfit."

He tried to ignore her, not even looking at her, though he did keep track of her location.

"So, is your boyfriend here with you?" She asked him, moving closer. "Or are you up for a dance?" He could smell that she wasn't particularly drunk.

That just left stupid, thinking he'd want anything to do with her.

He took the glass of water and cloth, thanked the buff, tanned guy who'd served him and headed to meet up with Tonya.

"Jerk," he heard Melody mutter under her breath before he was out of earshot. Fortunately, it didn't take long to find Tonya by one of the rooms, dangling the key by one finger, flirting playfully with one of the security officers who was there.

"Oops, looks like my date's back," she giggled as she spotted Chance. "Sorry Marty, maybe next week," she said easily.

"No problem," the well-built man chuckled before heading back onto the dance floor, looking for somebody else for the night.

"Avoid Melody if you value your hide," Chance added as an aside. "The blonde by the bar," he motioned towards her with his head. "She nearly killed my partner."

"Trust me, I'd avoid her anyways," Marty shuddered. "Some of the guys like her, but she is just _not_ my speed. Thanks though."

"He's a nice guy," Tonya observed as Marty headed off, then turned to give Chance a peck on the cheek. "So, shall we?" She asked with a grin, slipping into the room and holding the door open for him, the large cot in the back of the room its only real amenity... the only one it really needed, for that matter.

"Oh, yeah," he slid a hand between her legs and claimed a heated kiss. "Now, let's see about getting that vest off."

"Mmm ... this is going to get cold, isn't it?" She asked him with a giggle, kissing him deeply before she shifted to present her back and ass to him tantalizingly, rubbing against his leather-covered crotch.

"For a bit," he dipped the cloth into the ice water and worked to peel off the layers of latex that served as her vest.

"Oooh...." She shivered lightly, the 'leathers' coming off with the lightest scrubbing, the orange layer and stripes beneath not disturbed in the least. "Just so you know, all my blends are non-toxic," she told him teasingly.

"So I'll drop the cloth when I get around front," he promised and kissed the nape of her neck.

"Mmm... works for me," she rumbled, reaching down to fondle his crotch. "Want me to do a little work too?" She offered teasingly, toying with his zipper.

"Please do," he licked his lips and let her turn around so he could work on her back and arms from the other direction.

She unzipped his pants, working his rigid cock out and starting to stroke it, slowly at first, teasing his rubbery barbs with her fingers as she started to give him a handjob.

"Oh yeah," he rumbled and slid his fingers into the glass to retrieve an ice cube and used it to tease her nipples to hard little nubs.

She gasped at the intense cold, moaning softly as her nipples hardened, stroking him faster as he slowly worked the latex off, leaning down to use his tongue to work more of it off of her firm breasts.

"Mmm, I think that's off enough," Chance pushed her onto the double cot and leaned over her. It gave her enough time to change her mind and push him away if she wanted to, but little more before he claimed a deep kiss and pressed her legs apart with one knee.

"Fuck me, tabby," she rumbled and spread her legs invitingly as she kissed him back, eager to finally have him inside of her.

"Till you're sore," he promised and thrust forward into her tight, wet body with a lusty groan. "Such hot stuff."

"Fuck yeah," she moaned, squeezing down around him as his shaft ripped through the outer layer of her 'shorts' and drove deep into her body, his barbs rubbing along her tender insides as she pulled him close for a hungry kiss as they worked each other hard to the first of many orgasms in the small, sparse room.

* * *

Jake stretched upwards with a yawn that he only partially stifled. He's found all the bits to the main tail rudder and was satisfied it wasn't a mechanical issue with the system. That knocked one more problem from the list that was rapidly shortening.

"Dr. Clawson!" A slightly annoyed voice finally got him to crawl out from the collection of jet remains.

"Oh, Dr. Stark," he nodded, and caught sight of an older man standing next to the facility leader. "What's up?"

"This is Dr. Carle Dryas," Stark introduced him. "He's the finest mind we have when it comes to finding both viruses and bad code."

"Oh," Jake brushed his hands off on his overalls and extended on in greeting. "Hello."

"Hello, Dr. Clawson," Dryas said, shaking Jake's hand. "I've been looking at the code for the control systems you and Dr. Stark had been working on," he explained.

"Did you find anything?" Jake was suddenly keenly interested in this new human.

"No, not even in the heuristic code," he had to admit. "All I could find was that, at the end, the system was trying to reroute its control routines around the primary and redundant control circuits ... it might have happened because of that, but the code _should_ have still worked fine afterwards. I have to say, it was a little tricky working around your coding habits," he chuckled slightly.

"You can thank Dr. Stark for what readability it has," Jake said sheepishly. "I learned under very different systems than are standard here. That was probably the AI trying to comply with the physical control system when it was drastically different from what the secondary control systems were creating. I've always trusted the pilot over the computer. You have just narrowed down what could have gone wrong to a very short list."

"Which means that you can afford to take a little time off before you go working through that list," Dr. Stark told Jake. "It's admirable that you've been putting so much time and effort into sorting this out, especially with everything that's happened, but it's not a matter of life and death that you get this finished."

Both humans saw him open his mouth to object, and then catch himself with the realization that Stark was right.

"All right," Jake agreed reluctantly, and a bit confused.

"Guarding against burnout is part of my job too," Stark reminded him. "Go home. I don't want to see you for at least twenty-four hours. Not when you've already put in more than ninety this week," he chuckled slightly.

"Everything'll be right where you left it when you get back," Dr. Dryas chuckled. "If you'd like, I could keep looking for what she was reacting to right before the crash."

"That would be appreciated," Jake said gratefully. "I'll start working on the mechanical end of things when I get back."

"Go on home, Jake," Stark told him. "I'll lock up the hangar behind you."

"Yes, sir," Jake fell back on the only training he had to deal with a command structure of any kind and obeyed. Once he thought about home, he couldn't say he was reluctant. Sleeping warm and safe between Chance and Marie was enough to make him purr and stirred interest in his groin.

Almost to his bike, Jake took his PDA out and called Marie.

"Hey Jake," she answered after a moment. "How's it going?"

"Stark just ordered me on a twenty-four hour furlough," he half-chuckled and began a habitual check to make sure his bike hadn't been sabotaged somehow. "Thought you might want to come home, with everybody actually there."

"Mmm ... want me to give you and Chance a little time to yourselves before I get there?" She asked him, a grin in her voice. "I can come around later if you'd like, get some dinner on the way."

Jake paused, torn between the two options.

"If you'd come with dinner, that'd be great," he finally said.

"No problem," she said. "I'll be there with finger food and bells on," she chuckled.

"We'll be looking forward to it," he laughed easily. "See you then, Marie."

"Seeya then, Jake; love you!" She said before hanging up, leaving him to start home in peace with thoughts of the evening's activities to keep him company for the short trip. He pulled up in front of the house, and noticed as he opened the door that the TV was off... a sure sign, given that Chance's Cyclotron was still there, that Marie had probably called and let him know he was on his way.

Jake chuckled softly and parked the bike before walking to the front door and checking out what was there. For a brief moment he wondered if this was Melody's work, but quickly pushed that out of his mind when he couldn't smell her.

When he got in and heard the hot tub filling in the back, it only confirmed what he thought.

"Hey Jake!" Chance called up to him. "Heard you were finally crawling out of your hangar," he came out into the front room wearing nothing but a grin.

"By orders," Jake rumbled and shut the front door before walking up to claim a heated kiss. "You're looking good."

"Thanks," Chance chuckled, returning the kiss with equal heat. "Mmm... I hear we've got a few hours to ourselves?" He asked with a grin.

"Until Marie comes with dinner," he ran his hands down Chance's sides and nibbled at the tabby's left nipple. "Plenty of time to ourselves."

"So let's get you undressed and we can go soak for a bit," Chance purred, undoing Jake's shirt. "Got a drink I want you to try out," he grinned.

"Oh?" Jake raised an eyebrow even as he helped strip his clothes off. "Anything to do with that catnip vodka?"

"Yep; Tonya suggested trying it with mixers," Chance grinned and slid an arm around Jake to squeeze his ass as they walked to the master bathroom. "We've got a pair of catnip-screwdrivers waiting by the tub for us both."

"Sounds like a very good start to the evening," Jake purred.

"It's good to have you home, buddy," Chance purred back as they both slipped into the tub, their drinks waiting. He kissed Jake tenderly, rubbing his side. "When you get working...." He trailed off with a chuckle.

"I know, I know," Jake murmured and nuzzled him before slipping into the swirling, hot water. "And here you can't just come down and distract me," he winked and accepted his drink.

"Not the same way, anyways," Chance grinned, taking his own and taking a sip of it. "How's it going?"

"It's not the software by all accounts, and I've ruled out the mechanical systems. That pretty much narrows it down to three components, or a stroke of serious weirdness not being recorded."

"Which, with us, is always possible," Chance nodded. "You'll get it soon though."

"Yes, I will," he agreed and shifted to kiss Chance as he got into the hot tub. "Right now, I'm more inclined to believe it wasn't weirdness. Too many people are involved, there's too much I didn't do. The openings for something to be wrong are just too great to ignore."

"To be honest, I kinda figure you're right," Chance admitted. "At least Melody wasn't part of this project."

"Doesn't rule her out completely, it just drops her on the suspect list," Jake muttered, then sighed. "Can we manage not to let her mess with tonight?"

"Sorry," Chance murmured, reaching over to rub Jake's chest, scratching it lightly until he closed his eyes and began to purr. "She has kinda been in the way of everything lately, hasn't she?"

"Pretty sure that's her intention," Jake said.

"Probably," Chance murmured. "Certainly been doing a good job of irritating me." He kissed Jake's neck, reaching down to stroke his sheath lightly. "By the way, when you get a chance, think I want to see about upgrading the house's security."

Jake's eyes snapped open. "What happened?"

"Relax, nothing _that_ serious," Chance told him. "I just think she's poking through my stuff somehow... I might just be losing it too," he pointed out.

"More inclined to believe she's poking through it," Jake grumbled. "I'll see what I can do ...in the morning."

"Morning's fine," Chance agreed, kissing his neck. "Now, what'll it take to get you relaxed like you just were again?" He asked teasingly.

"Another shot, and no more talk of Melody." Jake said firmly and held his empty glass up with a playful grin.

"Deal," Chance grinned, snagging the bottle and poured Jake another shot before sliding down in the tub to lick at the lean tom's nipples lightly. "Mmm ... you have the breathers around here yet?" He asked playfully.

"Of course," he purred and slid his hands down Chance's broad, powerful chest to tease his swelling sheath. "Third shelf, above the towels."

"Those things _do_ make it easier to do blowjobs in here," Chance grinned playfully, heading over to grab the two devices. "You want to go under, or want me to?"

"Ohh, hard choice," he cracked a teasing grinned and kissed him soundly. "But if you go down, that means this lovely thing," he caressed the tabby's hardening cock, "will be nice and ready to fill me up."

"And it means yours will take a nice long time to make pop again," Chance grinned, returning the kiss. "So, does this mean I get to get wet?" He asked teasingly, licking Jake's neck before putting the breather on.

"Yes," he shuddered lightly and pressed into his mate's touch. "Love you, Chance."

"Love you too, Jake," Chance purred up at him, before nuzzling his way down his body, sinking beneath the water and licking at the cinnamon-furred tom's filling sheath. The air he was breathing was warm, as the water was, and it gave the whole event a surreal kind of feel.

But as he took the tip of Jake's cock into his mouth, he felt through that connection, and their hands, that it was going to be worth every bit of weirdness. Jake had already whimpered and spread his legs without thinking about it.

His tongue worked over Jake's barbs, and he pressed his face down until his nose was in his mate's pubes, twining their fingers as he started to suckle him.

Jake moaned, his eyes closing tightly to focus completely on the sensations of swirling water and Chance's mouth that knew him so well. He did his best to hold back, but it was only moments before he tightened his fingers around Chance's and began to thrust into the intense pleasure of his mouth.

It wasn't much longer before he moaned again, pumping his seed into Chance's mouth, the tabby sucking him clean with practiced ease, swallowing every drop of his come. He kept his mouth around the pulsing length, teasing it with his tongue until Jake began to shiver and thrust again.

Only then did he draw his head away and surfaced to claim a hard kiss and remove the breather.

"Ready to take me in?" Chance asked hotly.

"Anytime," Jake pressed against the strong hand on his chest, almost ready to whimper in need.

"Spread your legs, lover," Chance purred, spreading them himself and pulling Jake close, rubbing his rigid shaft against his mate's ass briefly before sinking it into him with a groan. He held still for a moment, just savoring the feel of being inside his mate and Jake's cock hard and eager between their bodies, but it didn't last long once Jake squeezed down.

He leaned down, kissing Jake hotly as he started to thrust slowly, enjoying his tight, hot body.

"Slow, or fast?" He asked, nipping Jake's neck.

"Slow for as long as you can stand it," Jake grinned and melted quite willingly in his arms. "Then take me so hard I'll walk funny."

"Mmm... we'll see if I still have you screaming when Marie gets here with dinner," Chance grinned back, pushing Jake back onto the edge of the tub as they made love.

"A challenge I can get behind," Jake moaned and relaxed back as he wrapped his legs around Chance's waist and worked his cock with his body.

* * *

A few hours later, Marie slipped in through the front door quietly, a bag in her hand with dinner. She took a deep breath, shivering lightly at the pleasant smell of the two kats' arousal.

"Hot tub?" She called out, fairly sure that she'd find them there.

"Yeah," Jake's voice carried testament to his very sated state.

She giggled to herself, setting the bag down and stripping before she headed back to join them with it to find Jake in Chance's lap, presumably with the tabby still inside him.

"So, have the two of you had enough time to relax a bit?" She asked teasingly, putting the food down by the edge of the tub before slipping in next to them.

"Oh, yeah," Chance grinned up at her and hugged his mate with a nuzzle to the neck that earned him a light shudder. "Thanks for the time."

"No problem," she purred. "I've got dinner here, help you two studs get your strength back up so I can play a little too," she winked.

"I'm sure we can find a way to repay you," Jake grinned and licked a rolled slice of meat from her fingers with careful attention to cleaning her fingers.

"I'm sure you can," she grinned back, licking his nose playfully before snuggling up beside them, letting the hot water soak into her body. "Mmm ... so, just how did they drag you out of the hangar today?"

"Stark ordered me to take twenty-four hours off," Jake chuckled. "Something about not burning out."

"Good to know we're not the only ones who worry about it," Marie chuckled, taking a chicken strip as Chance snagged a breaded and fried tidbit and popped it into his mouth despite the fact that it made Marie's eyes water and nose sting just on the way by.

"Heooowww!" Chance gasped in shock when the strip of a Dorset naga pepper escaped into his mouth. 

"Well, that's a short list," Jake laughed and grabbed on for himself.

"I think that was a Dorset naga popper," Marie said, rolling her eyes as the two of them tucked into the super-spicy snacks. "Shall I go fetch the fire extinguisher?" She teased.

"No need," Jake piped up, more than happy to see who could eat more of them. "You might even like those," he pointed to a small pile that had a coating of powdered sugar. "He put icing inside them instead of normal cheese, and it's a much milder pepper."

She looked at them dubiously, then picked one up.

"If I end up diving into the pool to cool my mouth off, you're gonna regret this," she warned Jake before hesitantly taking a bite.

"Go for the milk," he countered in absolute seriousness. "Water won't help a bit."

She chewed and swallowed it; it wasn't too bad, actually, sweet with a bit of a bite. She kissed Jake's cheek lately.

"Okay, I'll trust you on this one," she smiled slightly, taking another of them.

"After that Habanero popper experience, _neither_ of us are eager to see you eat something too hot again," Chance pointed out. "We're not mean that way."

"Good," she chuckled, licking his cheek lightly. "Besides, with you two, I get my spice by proxy," she smirked, grabbing a breaded mushroom and dipping it in the ranch before popping it into her mouth with little concern for the hot juices inside.

"At least you like some spice," Jake caught her for a real kiss. "Your project going as well as mine?"

"I have to like _some_ of it with you two," she giggled, returning the kiss, though she was careful not to taste too much of the pepper left in his mouth. "And yeah, I think it is ... think I'm a few months away from human trials for MD. Now that Dad's a little more forthcoming about his old research ... well, it'll be a bitch getting it approved, but I might be able to _really_ shake things up."

"So it's already working on near-human animals?" Jake asked, honestly curious even though he could only understand her explanations to a point.

"For things we know where to look for the damage," she nodded. "It'll be trickier with the retrovirii."

"What is this project again?" Chance asked good-naturedly.

"The real-world extension of what turned me into a Cat," she smiled at him. "The idea is that with an undamaged DNA sample to work with, I should be able to synthesize a dose that'll effectively cure not only simple genetic diseases, but things that affect the genetic structure of the victim's cells, like cancers and AIDS. Those are the ones that'll be hardest to cure, and to test with."

"Oh, right that one," he nodded.

"Remember, I don't take offense to people's eyes glazing over," she giggled. "But it's really the best way to introduce the technology, and the most responsible one. Finally get the Moreau name where it belongs in biology."

"Among the good guys," Jake nodded and relaxed back against Chance's chest. "It will be about time."

"Yeah," she purred, nuzzling Jake's shoulder lightly.

"You have any idea how Jo's doing?" Chance asked her curiously.

"Beyond being bitchy as all get out because of her natural temperament added to an unwanted pregnancy, quite well," Marie said. "Four pups are all healthy and on track for a nine-ish month gestation. One male and three females, though she doesn't know their genders yet. Doesn't want to. It's still too early on to have any real clue how intelligent or human they'll be, but their bodies are forming in crinos, that wolf-man form."

"Lemme tell you, however the pups are coming along, she's doing _wonders_ for people obeying the traffic laws," Chance chuckled. "Though some of the guys down at the range who don't know the details are starting to wonder where she went."

"I'm sure of it, and just as sure that it's debatable whether they're more afraid of her or Taggart," Jake snickered. "Those two are quite a pair."

"Tell me about it," Marie chuckled. "He's better about her appointments than she is." She shifted, giving Jake a lingering kiss. "So, any other small talk anybody wants to make?" She asked with a low purr.

"Only waiting until you feel like getting me hard enough to play," Jake grinned at her and slid his hands up her belly to cup her breasts.

"Mmm ... I think now's good," she rumbled, reaching down to fondle his sheath as she leaned up to kiss him hungrily.

"So do I get to stay here?" Chance asked eagerly, one hand for each of his lovers as they worked each other hot again.

"Oh, yeah, I like you there," Jake moaned and let his head fall back as his world closed down to the two bodies he was between and the pleasure growing in his own.

* * *

Marie woke up early a few days later, not surprised to find that Jake wasn't in bed with her and Chance. What was more surprising was just how strongly she wanted him there. She was wound up more than she had been the night before, after they'd pulled Jake out of the hangar so he wouldn't be working straight through Thanksgiving.

Climbing out of bed, she padded quietly out of the room, not bothering with robe or nightgown as she looked for Jake. She grumbled when a quick tour of the house proved that Jake wasn't inside, and seriously considered getting Chance's attention instead of hunting her boyfriend down.

Before she did, she glanced out at the back yard, and was glad to see him working on one of the cyclotrons. As long as he wasn't at work....

She headed back into the bedroom, fetching a robe and wrapping it around herself. She looked at Chance as she tied the belt, licking her lips and considering it... but Jake was already up and about, which was more than she could say for the tabby.

She started outside, walking up behind him.

"Isn't it a little early to be tinkering?" She asked, reaching down to rub his shoulders.

"Mmm, I slept in," he said with a half-groan and pushed into her touch eagerly.

"It doesn't count as sleeping in when it's still only 6:30," she teased, working his stiff muscles. "Mmm ... so, what would it take to distract you?" She asked with a low, seductive purr, kneeling behind him to lick his ear, pressing against his back, wondering if he could feel her hard nipples through his light jacket.

"I think you've managed it," he murmured and set his wrench down. "What's got you so keyed up?"

"I don't know," she admitted, nuzzling his neck. "Mmm ... I don't hear you complaining though," she grinned, wrapping her arms around his waist and unzipping his jacket.

"Not at all," he chuckled softly, leaned back and spread his knees a bit to give her full access to whatever she wanted.

She took advantage of it, pulling him back so that they were both sitting on the back lawn, him in her lap as she unzipped his pants.

"You want to take me right out here?" She asked him seductively and felt him shiver in anticipation that few other things could manage. "Fuck me where anybody could see us, then go in and give Chance a wakeup call he'll never forget?"

He turned around and pressed her into the grass with his body, one hand holding himself up a bit while his other pushed his jeans down past his ass while he kissed her soundly.

She returned the kiss, undoing her robe, laying it open and spreading her legs for him before she reached up, pressing her hands together submissively above her head. She whimpered when he shifted to thrust into her easily, his jeans rubbing against her bare legs as he grabbed her wrists and pinned her down as he took her hard and fast with a hungry kiss.

"Yessss!" She hissed, kissing him back before arching her head back to expose her throat to him, milking his cock needily. Her body burned with arousal, hungry for his seed in a way she couldn't remember it being before. For once she couldn't be anything but grateful when the guy came quickly, soaking her insides with hot seed as he roared, then he began to thrust again, his sharp teeth on the crook of her neck as their mating became more and more animal and mindless.

Neither of them was entirely sure how many rounds they'd had when they finally relaxed for a few minutes, Marie nuzzling Jake's neck lightly.

"We should prolly get back inside... folks'll be waking up soon," she murmured.

"Probably," he admitted, reluctant to pull out of her even though he knew they should move.

"Mmm... I've got something new in mind for Chance's wakeup call," she offered. "The two of us both sucking him off while you take me?" She grinned.

"Now that's something new," Jake grinned and pulled out with a deep groan. He pulled his jeans up to make walking easier, but didn't bother to zip them as he offered her a hand up.

"You mean I finally found something you guys haven't done before?" She giggled, not bothering to close her robe either as she followed him in, his seed dripping down her thighs. "Mmm ... we are going to need showers _so_ bad before going over to Dad's," she grinned.

"We'd better do them separately, or we'll never get there," he grinned back and opened the back door.

"Which, today, _isn't_ an option," she giggled, walking in and shucking the robe before Jake closed the door. "Mmm... c'mon, let's go wake up the tabby," she grinned, hurrying off towards the bedroom while Jake stripped down and joined her as she was pulling the blankets down to reveal his nude body and morning hard-on.

"Mmm ... both of us on the bed, or you want to be against my back?" She asked Jake, reaching down to fondle Chance's balls lightly.

"On the bed seems easiest," he knelt on the bed and claimed a kiss as he caressed her left breast.

"Agreed," she purred, laying down between them where she could reach Chance's crotch with her face, spreading her legs invitingly.

Jake didn't need any more of an invitation despite the previous hour and he drove his still-hard cock into her forcefully, thrusting several times before he split his attention between his hips and his mouth as he began to lick and suckle his mate's cock.

Chance groaned, a sound that only deepened as Marie started licking at the tabby's balls and the parts of his cock that Jake wasn't working on. Her body tightened around Jake's shaft as they enjoyed each other, Chance starting to stir, reaching down to rub both their heads. 

He moaned and thrust up a bit as Jake swallowed his cock whole and moaned around it as Marie tightened her body around his own cock.

She shifted one hand to start fingering the tabby's tight pucker slowly working up to pressing into him as pleasure built in her loins.

"Go 'head," Chance moaned softly, reaching up to give Jake the same sort of attention, just starting to get aware enough to realize all that was going on.

She continued to suckle his balls as she pressed a finger inside Chance's body, but her attention was soon drawn to the tom buried inside her as his rhythm shifted and he let the cock in his mouth slide out.

Jake kept licking, his head pressed against Chance's abs as his own balls twitched and pulled up against his body.

She raised her own head, taking Chance's cock into her mouth and suckling hungrily as she milked Jake's shaft, pushing both toms towards their inevitable orgasms, eager to be between them both when it happened.

Jake shuddered and lost track of everything but the body he was inside and the sensation of each intensely pleasurable contraction as he pumped nearly seedless come into her with a grunting cry.

Marie moaned quietly around Chance's cock, her body spasming and milking her mate's shaft hungrily as the tabby roared and pumped his own seed into her mouth. She swallowed as best she could, but her own contractions made her spill most of it onto the fur of his groin.

"Oh wow," Chance said as they tried to recover their breath. "What a way to wake up."

"Mm, yeah," Jake grinned up at him even as he began to thrust into Marie again.

"Sure you don't want a bit of a break?" Chance asked softly at the wince he saw go unrecognized on Jake's face. "Her scent's caught you bad."

"He's probably right," Marie groaned softly, even though she didn't want the wonderful sensations of being taken to end. If _Chance_ was saying that Jake should take a break, she was willing to acknowledge that he was probably pushing himself too hard. "Mmm ... I know _I_ should probably take a break, at any rate," she admitted, though it wasn't really true. Sometimes getting Jake to think it was for someone else was the only way to get through to him.

"All right," Jake reluctantly pulled out and was promptly distracted by a breathtaking kiss from his mate.

"Go shower," Chance prodded him. "Get her scent out of your nose for a bit."

Jake looked at him a bit oddly, but got off the bed and headed into the master bathroom.

Chance waited until the water started before he gave Marie a serious sniff, then nodded to himself. "Bit hornier than usual?"

"Yeah," she admitted, turning around in the bed to nuzzle Chance's shoulder. "At least more than usual for a morning I've already been at it for an hour," she blushed, licking his neck.

"Ever watched a cat in heat?" he asked as he slipped his fingers between her legs to continue stimulating her.

"Mmm ... haven't watched, but ... you think I'm going into heat?" She asked him, her eyes snapping into focus on him as she turned her attention to this being something more unusual than just being wound up.

"That's what I'm smelling. Jake probably hasn't cared about fems enough to know what hit him," he nodded and stilled his fingers. "Not a big deal given you aren't fertile with anything on this planet, but you might want to be careful about being around guys for a while."

"Being a Cat, I guess hitting myself with hormone shots won't stop it either," she murmured, reaching down to stroke his stomach lightly and felt the muscle quiver under her fingers. "We'll have to let Jake know... how hard does it hit you?" She asked him.

"Really hard," he admitted. "I've just done this enough times to know how not to give in. There's something decidedly erotic about getting a fem off when you're so hard you want to scream and never being inside her. You, though, if you want, are another matter."

"Mmm ... at least a little bit ... don't have to get going for a couple hours," she murmured, biting Chance's shoulder lightly.

He gave a low growl and shoved her to her back before rolling on top of her and claiming a heated, passionate kiss as he thrust into her well-used body with an absolute abandon he'd never have dared to give into with another Kat.

"Oh _fuck_ ," she rowled, pressing up into him as she gave herself over to him entirely.

* * *

Marie was working in the kitchen, prepping the turkey for that night's dinner at her father's house. After her shower she'd put on some heavy perfume and her most body-covering clothing -- a long-sleeved blouse and floor-length skirt she'd soon discovered -- to help the guys not be quite so uncomfortable when they had to be in the same room and behaving like civilized people.

"Jake, could you help me out with the roasting bag?" She called out as she finished stuffing the bird and put a small pot on the stove with the remains of its gizzards.

"Sure," he came close, a proximity he didn't do unless requested now, and looked at her with a bit of a lost expression. "With what?"

"You really _are_ hopeless, aren't you?" She giggled, handing him the roasting bag. "Hold that open," she told him, putting a bit of flour and starch in it. "Now, close it, shake it up a bit to coat the bag, and then hold it open while I get the bird in," she explained.

"I'm better than Chance," he countered and did as he was told. "I _can_ make hot food without burning it."

"That _almost_ qualifies you to make the extra stuffing later," she giggled, putting the heavy bird into the bag with a grunt. "There we go... think you can chop a couple apples without taking off fingertips later?"

"Hey, if it involves a weapon, I'm _good_ ," he objected with a playful huff and snagged an 8in blade from the countertop set to start.

"Good thing I didn't let you come up with the turkey stuffing then," she smirked, giving Jake a couple apples and onions to chop before she turned to work on one of the salads.

"You know, I don't think I ever really expected to see something like that after Marie started the Rebirth project," Jean chuckled quietly to Chance while the parade played on the TV. "What's going on today?"

"With what?" the tabby broke his attention away from the banter in the kitchen, and his unconscious efforts to keep an eye on his partner, to pay attention to Jean.

"The fact that you're watching Jake like a hawk, the fact Marie's wearing more perfume than she ever did when she was human ... something's up, I'm just curious what?" Jean explained, taking a sip of his ginger ale.

"Umm, she's in heat," he said as evenly as he could. "First time Jake's ever noticed it, so he's not really up on how to deal with it. Perfume's helping mute it, some."

"I think it's a good thing she doesn't have cats of her own anymore," Jean chuckled, shaking his head. "Is there any sort of a suppressant for it that you're familiar with? For future reference," he added.

"Nothing I've heard of," he shook his head. "A few devices to prevent pregnancy, though they tend not to work well. There's a pill that can stop a pregnancy in the first couple weeks. Nothing that really does much about the pheromones though. Most fems just take the week off every six months. I think it's a law that they have to be allowed to, but that could just be the Enforcers not wanting them in the building or on the street when the hormones are that high on both sides. My mom and older sister didn't take time off, but that was a very different situation."

"Understood," Jean nodded. "If she wants, we'll look at what's available around here then. Are there any complications beyond what's usually involved with being in heat for our animals?"

"It can make the psychos really psycho, and I've heard it used as a mitigating circumstance in some crimes, but I never heard of it being a big deal for most," he worked through training and experiences that had gone largely unused for most of his life. "It's not uncommon for a shekat on the leading or trailing edge of one to go clubbing. It can add a _real_ edge to things, and she can still do a lot without getting kittens."

"Mmm ... physical complications? Cramps, GI disorders ... there can be some for cats around here, particularly if they never have kittens."

"Never heard mom or sis complain of them," he thought back even further. "Felina wouldn't have even if it happened."

"We'll mostly have to hope it doesn't happen then," Jean murmured. "Particularly for her sake. I assume she and Jake are aware of this?"

"Once I caught her scent, yeah," he nodded. "Kinda why I'm keeping an extra eye on him. I really think it's the first time he's ever noticed a fem's heat-scent. Trying to behave and actually managing it can be really different things when you're already used to being with somebody ... add two people who aren't used to it, and, well, I'm kinda surprised they haven't snuck off yet to find new uses for kitchen tools."

Chien whined lightly from where he was laying near Jean's chair, earning a light scratch between his ears.

"Her old room is still furnished if it gets too bad," he chuckled lightly.

"True," Chance mused and sipped a beer. "It's not like they have to worry about unwanted kittens."

"Unlike a certain werewolf," Jean murmured. "Hopefully that will all work out in the end too. So, how are the three of you doing normally? I only hear Marie's end of things most days," he smiled.

"I think it's going great," Chance grinned. "It's nice to have a fem around the house, and it _definitely_ is nice to have someone to help drag Jake away from his work. Marie fits in better than most shekats would," he said with real respect in his voice for her. "She's a much better cook than either of us too, and she actually managed to talk Jake out of trying to become a merkat. You've got a really incredible daughter."

"I'd like to think so," Jean chuckled. "So does her mother, for all it doesn't always show. By the way, she's calmed down a _little_ since Halloween."

"I don't think Jake or Marie have though," he said much more quietly. "I don't think she could have come up with a better way to infuriate Jake if she was trying. It's down to the 'she's an unmentionable one' level, but it'll be a long time, or some serious effort on her part, to end this."

"You'll notice she is _not_ here," Jean agreed seriously. "And I don't blame them."

"Yeah, and in all honestly, it's a good thing I wasn't in earshot, probably a better thing that Zoe wasn't," Chance admitted. "I probably wouldn't be nearly as mellow about it if I'd actually _heard_ her say it. Still kinda sad to see Marie that angry with her mom. Makes her fit in with us pretty well though. You're the only kin any of us have that we're really on speaking terms with."

"You should look at our family relations a few generations back," Jean chuckled darkly. "Speaking of people we'd rather not know, how are you and Jake handling the Wilson woman? I've heard you've been having trouble with her."

"Somebody else largely on the unmentionables list," he groaned. "Real nut case, that one. Jake's had to upgrade security once already, and I don't think it was enough. Things are still going missing, and last time I found my stuff in her house. Stark nailed her on blackmailing some guy to synthesize Marie's pheromones so she could get close to Jake, but we still don't know what caused the memory loss. I'm half-hoping they can prove she had something to do with the Turbokat's crash just to get her in more trouble."

"If they do, she'll be out on her ass just as soon as everything's done, and practically under office-arrest in the meantime," Jean said, shaking his head. "You know... if necessary, I could probably come up with some gene-specific repellants for her... not something I've had to work with much, but it shouldn't be too hard to do. Just take a few weeks probably."

"You can do that?" Chance looked at him, dumbfounded.

"If she has any sort of allergy, it should be possible ... it's just a real pain to try to do," Jean explained. "Wouldn't really have offered if it weren't for the fact that you're so close to Marie... all three of you could be in danger if she keeps doing this."

"Yeah, I know," Chance murmured and sipped his beer. "She's already been given a restraining order to keep away from Jake. Haven't had anyone this crazy interested in me that I wasn't authorized to lock up, and Eureka's just too small to make her disappear."

"You ... are kidding, right?" Jean asked, raising an eyebrow.

"About which part?" Chance looked over at him.

"Making her disappear," the old scientist explained.

"I _want_ to drop her into the pit they keep the rest of those werewolves in," he nearly snarled, his full hatred of the woman surfacing visibly. "For what she's done, it's better than what she deserves. Yes, if I thought I could get away with it, she'd never be seen again." He said more evenly. "This place isn't back home. She'd be noticed missing, even if most folks would probably be relieved."

"Dad, there's reason behind that one _none_ of us want to go into," Marie called out from the kitchen. "Disappearing isn't their usual style."

The tabby settled himself and sighed. "Sorry. I'm as protective of Jake as he is of me. That restraining order ... it takes a lot for an Enforcer, even a former one, to resort to that. We thought she'd killed him," he added, the anguish from those terrifying hours clear in his voice.

"All right," Jean nodded slightly, accepting it. He suspected he should be grateful for the lack of details. "So... what have you been up to lately?" He asked Chance, hoping to change subjects even as Jake came out and slid his arms around Chance from behind the couch.

"I came out okay," Jake murmured, using his voice, scent and touch to ease his mate back into the present and away from the nightmares that wouldn't always wait for sleep.

"I know," Chance murmured and reached up to scritch Jake's jaw. "I'll be okay."

"Good," Jake purred softly before kissing Chance's neck and returning to the kitchen to help Marie.

Chance took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Okay ... I help test fly the Turbokat and a couple others, but most days I get to watch cartoons, play games, race the local speedsters, show up the GD SWAT and find dates for nights Jake and Marie have their heads buried in their work," he chuckled tolerantly.

"And generally act like a grown-up kid," Marie smiled over at him.

"It means there's always somebody to keep you two from getting out of hand," Chance pointed out with a smirk. "You scientists are _way_ too serious sometimes."

"And he can work _way_ too hard when he needs to, to say he just goofs off," Jake added with a snicker.

"So what are you up to these days?" Chance asked Jean, hoping to get to more neutral, and perhaps mindless, topics. Sure enough, it wasn't long before he was well over his head in biological jargon going back and forth, a situation that let him get his mind off the trouble of the last weeks.


	14. Passion for Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jake finds a new friend who's interested in his kinky side and a mysterious stranger calling himself Sting arrives in town.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written with Karl Wolfemann

Jake's ears twitched curiously as he heard the sound of one of Chance's games. A quick look around the corner confirmed that the tabby was playing Excite Truck. Not that unusual, except that he hadn't been able to find it for more than a week.

"Did you buy another copy?" He asked Chance curiously between levels, while the system counted up his score.

"Nah, I got it back," Chance shook his head briefly. "I know where she hides most stuff now."

"Be careful doing that," Jake warned him, sitting down next to his mate. "Don't want to end up going through what you did ... or having to try and arrange a lawyer for you after you rip her apart."

"If I have to, I know how to set a crime scene," Chance nearly growled, but he looked at Jake seriously. "I don't go when she's home. I'm careful about that, okay? As soon as she snags something with a tracker in it, we'll have her, legally."

"Just give her time to do it," Jake nodded slightly. "That, or for the Sheriff to spot her breaking in ... still wish I knew how she was doing that when her chip should be calling Carter if she comes _near_ the place."

"Probably shielding it somehow," Chance wrapped an arm around Jake and pulled him against his side, the game paused. "We'll get her, one way or another."

"Yeah, we will," Jake agreed, nuzzling Chance's neck and kissing his cheek, just before there was a light knock at the door. "I'll get it," he said easily, standing up. "You get back to your game."

"Must be the sheriff," Chance chuckled. "No one else that visits knocks."

"Yeah, yeah," Jake opened the door and blinked to see a petite brunette with an athletic build and emerald green eyes. "Umm, hello," he turned his head into the room. "Think it's for you."

The woman poked her head in enough to see Chance. "No, sir. I'm here to see you," she looked right at Jake. "It is Jake Clawson, right?"

"Yeah," Jake said easily. "And you are...?"

"Cathy Amel," she extended a hand to him, unfazed by his feline appearance. "I heard about you from Beverly, indirectly at least."

"Okay," he said, shaking her hand, narrowing down the list of things she'd want to talk to him about from that alone. "Would you like to come in?" He asked her, stepping back to make room. The short list of things to discuss were all pretty much things that weren't meant for the front doorstep.

"Thank you," she stepped inside, giving Chance an opportunity to check out her light frame, small chest and casual jeans and jean jacket that was just tight enough to show off her fit body. "I did catch that you preferred guys," she sounded a bit apologetic. "But given you have a girlfriend by all accounts, I hoped it wasn't that set in stone."

"No, it isn't, but it depends very much on the situation," Jake explained. "Take a seat ... mind if I ask why you're interested?" He asked a bit sheepishly, sitting down next to Chance while she sat on the other end of the couch.

"Common belief and the internet aside, there really aren't that many sadists out there that actually know what they're doing and how not to do serious damage. If Beverly is willing to put in a good word for you on it, it's enough for me to risk it," she cocked her head slightly and watched them both. "Someone who's both a sadist and a masochist isn't something I've actually encountered in someone before. Besides," she reached out and gently pressed a claw out front the tip of on of Jake's fingers. "The idea of not needing any tools to do the work ... it's quite enticing."

"What sort of things are you into?" Jake asked, his interest perking up as Chance saved his game and turned it off, watching the two of them carefully.

"Bondage, bloodplay, sharp pointy objects, temporary piercings ... I don't mind an audience, but it's not a kink of mine," she smiled a bit more hopefully. "And being fucked so thoroughly that I'll be sore in the morning."

Jake purred lightly at the list.

"I don't have any experience giving that sort of attention to humans," he warned her. "I'm careful, but I won't have the sort of knowledge of the limits," he pointed out.

"I understand," she nodded. "Do you understand safewords?"

"Yes," he nodded seriously. "Never play without one."

"Good," Cathy smiled. "Are you particularly keen on gags?"

"Not really," Jake shook his head.

"Even better. That means it will be a simple matter to use safewords. I do know my limits, and I am willing to enforce them."

"Something else I like," the lean tom smiled. "It can be as hard to find as a sadist who knows what they're doing. Do you have another partner?"

"Not since Uric ended up on the wrong side of an experiment," she said quietly. "I miss him, but it's been over a year now. It's time to move on."

"I'm sorry," he said sincerely. "Are you looking for something committed, or just getting back into things?"

"I wasn't into commitment even when I saw the same person regularly," she half chuckled. "Marie gave me a bit of what's okay and what's not with the three of you." She shifted her attention to Chance. "I wasn't given much by way of details about all that happened with Dr. Wilson, but I've heard enough to know why you're so protective of him. I don't object to you being there until you're both comfortable."

"Good," Chance chuckled slightly. "Because I _do_ want to keep an eye on him," he said with a slight nuzzle for Jake.

"Just remember, I'll be on the giving end with her," Jake chuckled back.

"I think that's the only reason she's still sitting there," Chance pointed out and put an arm around Jake to pulled him close.

"What's your feeling on two guys?" Jake raised an eyebrow at her.

"Not a major kink, but I'm not going to complain," Cathy smiled at them both. "I was half expecting it given Jake's relationships."

"Not a _major_ kink of mine either," Chance chuckled, "though we do indulge when we get the chance... this something you're always into, or just something that catches you in the mood sometimes?"

"It's a periodic kink," she said. "A couple-three times a year I really feel like it, but most of the time I'm much more vanilla in bed."

"Same here," Jake said easily. "Are you interested in anything when you're not in your kinkier moods?"

"Not particularly," she admitted. "I doubt I'd object, but you've already got a boyfriend and a girlfriend. Seems kind of a crowd to me."

"That's why I was asking," Jake admitted with a bit of a chuckle. "The tabby here might be another story when you're in the mood, but I really do prefer guys unless there's something else involved."

"Same here," Cathy cracked at grin at him. "Is there anything else you wanted to know?"

"Well, it might be nice to know a bit about you," Jake smiled a little shyly. "I mean... I'm pretty sure you're not in avionics, or I probably would've met you before."

"No, I'm not," she smiled back warmly. "Though I've run across your name a few times before Beverly started to ask around. I'm a data sifter. I'm one of the folks that created your human identities and got all the paperwork looking legal."

"Always good to know somebody who can do that," Chance grinned.

"Especially with our luck," Jake chuckled. "What sort of things do you like to do in your downtime?" He asked her curiously.

"I like camping, swimming, hitting major amusement parks, doting on my cat and German Shepard," she chuckled. "The fur is going to make it a little different. I'm used to sleeping with fur, but not quite this way."

"I've got it on good authority it's not as hard to get used to as you'd think," Chance smirked slightly.

"Letch," Jake chuckled, swatting his mate with his tail.

"Now why do I get the feeling the tabby is more interested in bedding me than the one I came to talk to?" Cathy giggled.

"Just because he probably is," Jake admitted, leaning back against Chance. "I prefer toms, but he makes up for me and then some... so, any particular time that'd be good for you to come over?" He asked her curiously.

"Sometime next week, after dinner?" she suggested. "My job's pretty steady at five days a week from seven to four."

"Sounds good to me... Thursday sound good?" Jake offered, thinking it through. It would give him a few days to see if he could find the problem with the Turbokat and something to look forward to if he couldn't.

"Sounds good," she nodded easily. "Load's pretty light right now. I can take Friday off if I need to."

"You probably will," he told her seriously. "At least if we really get going."

"True," she nodded and stood, extending a hand to Jake. "I rather hope it works out that well, Jake. I've had a couple bad dates too, and I can't assume anymore."

"I've had my share of them too," he said reassuringly, standing up and shaking her hand. "Hopefully it'll all work out," he smiled and showed her out.

"That has to be the _weirdest_ pre-date conversation I've ever heard," Chance observed when the door shut behind her.

"Yeah, but when you're into the sort of things we are, it's not _that_ weird," Jake pointed out, coming back to snuggle up beside Chance. "You don't mind, right?" He asked him, fairly sure he wouldn't.

"I would have said so if I did," Chance nuzzled him. "I got a decent vibe from her."

"Good," Jake purred, returning the nuzzle. "Mmm ... so, you want to dig out the spare controller for your game, we'll see who's the better driver?" He asked with a grin.

"You don't have a prayer," Chance grinned broadly and shifted to grab the spare controller from its home in with all the other currently-unused bits of the Wii.

* * *

"You're _still_ grounded?" Jeth asked incredulously as they all sat down in a corner of the school cafeteria.

"Yeah, till sometime next year," Zoe muttered.

"So maybe only another six or seven weeks?" Jenny said hopefully.

"Probably more like spring," Zoe said dryly. "He was _pissed_ ."

"He's still letting you do the play though," Jeth offered, trying to find a bright spot. "That should be coming up pretty soon, at any rate, let you out after dark again."

"Yeah, but I'll be on stage and he's going to be right there the whole time," Zoe grumbled. "Besides, it's really not the same with Putnam gone."

"Sorry," Jeth murmured, looking down at his tray a bit.

"Kinda surprised they're actually going forward with it this year," Jenny admitted.

"The show must go on," Zoe sighed. "That's what he'd have said, anyways. It's not going to be much like the first rehearsals now. Tyv Ren is a good director, I guess, but she doesn't have nearly the taste for weird re-imagining that he did."

"I don't think anybody could," Amy shook her head. "The guy was out there even by Eureka standards. Brilliant and creative, but way out there ... can we change the topic a bit?" The young Brunette asked hopefully. "The play's fine, just not... y'know."

"Right," Zoe agreed easily. "So, what's going on on the outside?"

"Your boyfriend's in a major fight with some lady in Electronics," Jenny ignored Jeth's annoyed look. "I hear it took Jo to stop him from literally ripping her apart a few weeks ago, and she's fighting back 'cause your Dad gave her a restraining order a few days later."

"You know who it is?" Zoe asked her, remembering the incident with Dr. Moreau's car.

"Melody something," Jenny answered.

"Wilson," Amy supplied the rest. "My dad says she's a hard core nut case, but smart enough not to get caught until now. She's in big trouble over the mess. I doubt Doctor Stark cares that she likes torturing folks as a hobby, as long as she doesn't put other employees in the hospital. What really got her was that one of her blackmail victims got tired of being a victim and spilled it all, then got her to admit to it on tape."

"That explains the griping about people not filing charges," Zoe sighed, shaking her head. "She'd better watch out for Chance then, or Jo might not be there in time."

"A fair chunk of Security would look the other way if he did," Amy said between bites of her sandwich. "That woman's got my dad all sorts of riled, and his team's not so happy with her either."

"Yeah, but _my_ Dad probably wouldn't," Zoe shrugged, working through her own lunch. "At least not _that_ easily."

"So, is your belated birthday party still on for whenever you get turned loose again?" Jeth asked, trying to change the subject.

"Oh yeah," Zoe brightened considerably. "I'm getting my driver's license just before it."

"Your Dad's actually going for that?" Jenny regarded her dubiously.

"It doesn't matter," Zoe shrugged. "Chance'll take me if I need it."

"Besides, it's not like she'll have a car to go along with the license," Jeth pointed out. "Don't think even the Sheriff would mind with that. At least it'll take something off the list of charges if you hotwire one," he teased.

"But I bet he knows that it means Chance'll start teaching her on the track," Jenny giggled. "With those souped up vehicles of his."

"Can you blame me?" Zoe asked with a grin. "Taking one of those bikes out for a ride'd be a blast and a half, and probably safer than most of the ones from around here."

"So are you going to give us a ride before summer?" Amy asked with a devilish grin.

"As soon as I've got something to give the ride in," Zoe grinned back. "Maybe head out to Portland, or back down to CA some time during vacay."

"A little further and we'll hit Seattle," Jeth suggested. "It's a lot bigger than Portland, and only about three hours further north."

"That'd work too," Zoe mused. "Not as expensive as California either. Just make sure our folks don't hear about this too early, or I'll be in my thirties before I get the chance," she grinned.

"Hey, once you hit eighteen, you don't have to listen to him anymore," Jenny pointed out. "Though I wouldn't put it past him to try to say otherwise."

"You're assuming he wouldn't just have Jo lock me up for a decade or two," she chuckled slightly. "Besides, waiting until I'm eighteen wouldn't really help out this summer, would it?"

"No, but I bet your boyfriend would be willing to help get you out," Jenny teased. "And Jo _likes_ you, remember?"

"We'll just have to see what we can arrange... who knows? If we hit at the right time of year, maybe we could give PAX a quick visit," she half-grinned.

"Isn't that a bit geeky for you?" Amy asked.

"Hey, there is more than geeky there," Zoe countered. "There are some killer concerts too. Some of the best techno and hip-hop groups around that aren't signed with the big labels yet."

"Wow, I guess she _is_ doing her homework," Jeth grinned, ducking the fry that was tossed at him.

"Guess we should just be happy we can get you anywhere near something that's computers and video games," Amy giggled. "Be a blast if we could make it though," she added with a grin.

"Oh, making it'll be easy," Zoe grinned at her and winked. "Making it without an APB on us is the tricky part."

"Well I think I'll wait until the plan won't end up with one before trying to get pre-reg tickets for us all," Jenny chuckled, shaking her head. " _We_ all have reputations as _not_ being trouble makers, remember?"

"Sorry to break it to you, Jenny, but you lost that when you started hanging out with me," Zoe snickered. "You have _no_ idea what my Dad has on everybody around here," she rolled her eyes.

"Could always find out," Amy winked, finishing up her lunch. "About time for class ... seeya tomorrow, Zoe."

"See you later," she nodded and sighed to herself as her brief bit of feeling like a normal person disappeared for the day.

* * *

"You look like you're in a good mood," Cathy grinned a few nights later, when Jake met her at the door. "I don't suppose I'm the only reason though?" She guessed.

"I found the part that most likely caused the Turbokat crash," he grinned and ushered her in.

"That explains a few things," she smiled. "So what was it, if you can talk about it?" She asked curiously as he closed the door behind her.

"One of the control cards for the main rudder didn't check out right, even after accounting for damage. We're going into it's creation in much closer detail now to try and find out why."

"Well I'm sure you'll figure it out," she smiled. "Hello, Chance," she said to the tabby as she spotted him sitting on the couch.

"Hey Cathy," he said easily. "How's it been?"

"Pretty much normal," she shrugged a bit. "It doesn't really get busy for a month or so yet."

"What happens then?" he asked as Jake closed the drapes and clicked the recording system on.

"Assorted paperwork, reports to file... mostly busy work, not the interesting sort of thing you guys brought around," she chuckled, glancing at Jake curiously as he started the recorder. "What was that?"

"Recorder," he answered without thinking about it and stepped close to her to claim a light kiss.

"Why?" She asked, returning the kiss briefly but putting a hand up between them.

"If it goes well, for a very exciting home video for the two of us," he nodded towards Chance. "If not ... it's a little extra protection for us both on who agreed to what, when, and when that changed."

"Okay," she murmured, kissing him lightly. "Just promise me I'll never see it _anywhere_ else unless things go badly," she chuckled. "I seem to remember that Dr. Orwell and your boyfriend are pretty close."

"He also enjoys being the center of attention," Jake chuckled, then turned serious. "Promise. I'm not out to see this spread around." He looked at Chance pointedly.

"I promise," Chance said seriously. "I always make sure the people on the tape don't mind before I show it off," he chuckled. "Especially when I'm not one of the main players."

"Good enough?" Jake tipped her chin up.

"Good enough," she nodded, kissing his chin lightly. "I just don't want to find myself on Orwell's Top Fifty list," she chuckled, then murmured softly when he cupped her left breast and caressed it with his thumb. "Safeword?"

Jake froze and nodded. "Sorry. Do you have a preferred one?"

"Shark," she cocked a bit of a grin.

"That's different," Jake nodded. "So ... start with a little seduction, or right to the pain?" he asked with a low rumble in his throat.

"Mmm ... seduction works," she murmured, reaching around to work his shirt free.

Jake smiled and kissed her neck, then licked it lightly to taste the salt and concentrated personal scent there as he unbuttoned his shirt and helped her get it off.

"Mmm ... may I?" She asked him lowly, running her hands down his firm abs, nuzzling his chest.

"Sure," he nodded even as he pulled her shirt out from her jeans.

"Good," she rumbled, helping him get her shirt off, her breasts clad only in her cream-colored bra as she licked lightly at his nipples, exploring his furry body with skilled, curious fingers.

"Just how much like a cat are you?" She asked curiously, reaching behind him with one hand to scratch down his back.

"Quite a bit," he shivered, his tail going up as his entire body tightened when she reached a spot just above his belt. "Oh yeah."

"Y'like that, huh?" She grinned, reaching down to undo his belt, nuzzling his belly button lightly. "Is it enough to get you off all on its own?" She asked him curiously even as she realized he wasn't wearing any underwear.

"No, but it does feel good," he said as he slid his hands through her hair, his fingers moving along the spots that would have been a Kat's ears.

"Mmm... then let's see if I can do it with a little attention up here," she teased, sliding his pants down and fondling his balls, curiously slipping a finger into his filling sheath.

"Oh yeah," Jake moaned deeply and spread his legs a bit to give her access to whatever she wanted.

"We're not _that_ different from a human male," Chance chuckled. "He'll whimper if you start teasing his cock now."

"No fair," Jake complained, only to have it dissolve into a gasp when she traded her finger for her tongue.

"Not that different maybe, but this is new to me," she grinned over at Chance before tracing the entrance to Jake's sheath with her tongue again and fondling his balls. As she coaxed him to full hardness, she explored his cock, and especially the rubbery, forked protrusions that filled out shortly after they left the sheath.

"Oh _yes_ ," Jake hissed and leaned forward a bit as his breathing quickened.

"Have you ever been tit-fucked?" Cathy asked him curiously as she reached back to undo her bra and toss it onto the sofa next to Chance.

"No," he looked down at her, not completely sure what she had in mind.

"He's got a girlfriend, but he's disturbingly innocent on many levels," Chance added with a snicker.

"Well then we'll just have to corrupt him a little bit," Cathy giggled, licking him from balls to tip before wrapping her warm breasts around his shaft, licking at the smooth, conical tip and starting to work her tits up and down his cock.

"Mmm, different," Jake moaned softly, quite willing to give into the pleasure she was drawing from him. His hips began to rock back and forth, adding a little more movement to her attentions.

"We each get something new tonight then," she rumbled, lapping at his tip, leaning down to suckle him lightly when she could, licking at his barbs other times. It didn't take her long to figure out that the rubbery barbs were more sensitive that the tip, and which ones were most sensitive to her tongue and teeth

"Close," Jake warned her with a gasp, his body tightening in anticipation.

She leaned down, taking his tip into her mouth, working her breasts up and down his cock with short, firm squeezes, her tongue working his barbs eagerly until he shuddered and thrust forward with a half-cry, half-roar, and shot a blast of his seed into her waiting mouth.

She drank down his come, swallowing most of it, a little dribbling down her lips as she let him fall from her mouth, licking it up and nuzzling his groin lightly.

"So how was it?" She asked him with a grin.

"Good," he panted a bit as he stroked her short brunette hair. "You're wearing far too much now, though."

"Can you fix that without tearing anything?" She asked him with a grin, standing to drape her arms around his neck and kiss him deeply.

"I think I can manage," Jake chuckled as they parted mouths briefly and went to work opening her jeans and sliding them down her legs. It was an opportunity he took full advantage of for feeling her body and getting used to the idea of smooth skin under his hands and not fur.

She stepped out of them and knocked the lot, along with his pants, out of their way as he began to kiss and nibble down her neck to her breasts.

"If you want to get a bit rough, feel free," she moaned softly, scratching the back of his head lightly. She shivered when his rough tongue circled one nipple, then very sharp teeth closed around it and brought it into his mouth to be held prisoner and ravaged by his tongue until she trembled.

She whimpered as his claws danced down her sides, not yet even really leaving marks. He used just enough pressure so she knew fully what he could do with them when he dug in.

She raised her hands, pressing her wrists together above her head, and exposing herself completely to him. She'd seen the hooks in the ceiling that she was sure she'd be tied to eventually.

"Yes," she whispered softly, savoring the tingles of pain that his claws left behind, knowing it would only get stronger as the night wore on.

"Want me to?" Chance asked uncertainly when his partner was obviously occupied and she was ready to be tied up.

Jake flicked him a quick hand signal and pushed her the short distance to stand in the right place for Chance to bind her wrists together and hook up the simple rigging. 

When he felt the subtle shifts in her body as the ropes and hooks took her weight, Jake moved on to her other nipple while he slid his fingers between her legs and teased her through the fabric of her thong underwear with one claw.

"Just remember not to rip anything," she moaned, spreading her legs as far as she could without _completely_ putting her weight on her shoulders, giving him the best access she could to her damp crotch.

"I won't," he promised throatily as he began to work his mouth and tongue down her body, tasting her as much as feeling her muscles quiver at his touch. Slowly, he moved the crotch of her thong out of his way so he could play across the exposed lips of her sex with his fingers, just brushing the nerve-rich skin with his fur.

"That unties," she offered, turning her hip a bit towards him with a moan so he could easily reach the simple knot holding it on.

"I saw," Jake grinned up at her and kissed his way into her long, wavy pubic hair and gave her a little more pressure with his fingers, just enough to part her lower lips and soak his fur in her juices.

"Just making sure," she groaned. "Mmm ... you like to take your time, don't you?"

"More than most let me," he purred before he finally spread the lips of her sex wide and slid his tongue from one end to the other, only to come back and nip her clit hard enough to make it jerk.

"Ooh! I'm not in much of a position to make you hurry up," she grinned. "How vocal do you like your partners?"

"Vocal, as long as it's honest," he grinned and slid his tongue across her sex again. "I like to know when you like it after all."

"No problem," she moaned, leaning into his touch as much as he could.

"God!" She gasped as his rough tongue delved into her body while he played with the hood around her clit with a claw. He never applied enough pressure to draw blood, but easily enough to register pain.

She moaned and whimpered as he kept her on the edge, gasping when his claws found a particularly sensitive spot.

"God, Jake," she panted, squeezing her body down around his tongue, her juices flowing down his muzzle as her body ached for release.

Cathy whimpered when he stopped.

"Chance, would you grab the leg-bar?" Jake grinned at his partner.

"Sure," the tabby nodded and got up, returning a moment later with the simple metal bar and helped Jake attach it just above Cathy's knees.

Then Jake turned his attention back to her trembling sex with a definite intent to get her off.

It didn't take him long. Moments after he started, she screamed with pleasure, her body tightening in orgasm as her juices washed over his face as he continued to work her hard, pushing her to another orgasm before the first one had even settled, then a third.

" _Wow_ ," she murmured once he'd finally stopped to let her catch her breath. "Mmm ... and this isn't even the main event yet," she grinned down at Jake, her body already pleasantly sore.

"No, it's not," he grinned back and slowly stood to claim a passionate kiss before slipping behind her and raking his claws across her breasts. He rubbed his very hard cock against the lips of her sex as he reached up to give a little more slack to the robe tied to her wrists. It leaned her forward and he drove into her body hard with a deep groan.

"Oh yeah," she moaned, clenching down around his shaft, feeling the rubbery barbs rubbing her insides. "That's _definitely_ new," she rumbled, trying to press back against his furry body, taking in every sensation he had to offer her as he used her body to sate himself.

"I hear it's addictive," Chance rumbled from the couch, his pants open and stroking himself as he watched his mate fuck a very willing human woman.

"I can imagine," Cathy moaned. "Ooh... hurt me, Jake," she begged, his claws raking over her breasts, not yet drawing blood.

He nodded and leaned forward to close his jaws at the crook of her neck and bit down possessively, drawing blood there as one hand drove his claws into her left breast and the other moved between her lets to pierce her clit's hood with a claw.

Cathy cried out, pressing back into his teeth as blood welled up around his claws. Crimson streaked her breasts as Jake slammed into her, her sex working around his cock hungrily as she tried to make him fill her body.

She shuddered as a deep growl vibrated through her body from where his fangs connected with her flesh and moaned as she felt his seed pump into her body with each thrust he made.

Her sex rippled around him, milking him hard as a smaller orgasm ran through her than the first several.

"Oh God," she panted, pain lancing through her body with every movement either of them made.

Jake opened his jaws and licked away the blood with a tenderness that half surprised her as he pulled himself free of her body, still quite hard.

"It gets better," he whispered in her ear before he continued to clean up the results of his work. He fondled and stroked her breasts for pleasure only as he licked his claw marks on the one clean. Then he brought her right nipple into his mouth and slipped a hand between to legs to rub her clit until she was rocking against his hand and moaning.

With no real warning he drove his longest teeth into her nipple in line with each other, piercing it further back than most would have.

"Hah!" She gasped sharply, pain replacing and mixing with the pleasure he'd been giving her, the wound bleeding freely once he removed his teeth. He continued to nip and lick at her breasts, caressing and fondling, even as he bit a hole in the left one.

Jake grinned when she shuddered with her cries, her body no longer hers to control as she came against his hand in the ecstasy of bloody pain and carnal pleasure.

"Definitely going to need that day off," she groaned, rapidly losing the ability to tell the difference between the pain and pleasure as he fondled her dripping pussy.

"Can I mark you, unobtrusively?" Jake asked, breathlessly eager with this creature that was so in line with his own desires.

"Mark me how?" She asked, fighting to keep from her gut reaction of agreeing blindly.

"Clit-hood ring," he purred deep in his chest and reached down to picked up a silver chain with a small tiger's eye stone set in the top and an onyx dangling on the end of the chain.

"That'll be good," she shivered. It wasn't particularly uniquely identifiable, so that was a bonus on top of it.

"All I care is that _we_ know what it means," Jake said and kissed her demandingly, then licked his way down her chest and abs. Once he was even with her crotch he rubbed a bit of cream on her clit hood, upper and underside, then made a hole with a very sharp, searing-hot needle.

"Shit!" She hissed, holding stock still as he set the ring, not wanting to make anything tear.

He quickly closed the two sides of the top end together through the hole to hold it in place.

"So," he licked just below her belly button as he put the simple tools away, "think your pussy can take the pounding my partner can dish out?"

"Is he into the sort of pain you are too?" She asked him, the pain in her clit hood starting to fade, or at least be replaced by the growing ache in her shoulders from supporting her weight.

"No," Jake shook his head and began to work his way up her body. "He's just known for fucking people unconscious," he grinned wickedly. "Something I like to watch. Though the pain wouldn't be hard to arrange for."

"I think I can handle him," she grinned over at Chance. "I just don't know if I could take that _and_ the sort of fun you're up for," she rumbled, turning back towards Jake to give him a light kiss.

"So we see who can outlast the other, then I introduce you to a couple special things in the morning?" Jake offered with a deep purr.

"Sounds good to me if it's good for the tabby?" Cathy grinned.

"Always," Chance chuckled, standing up to walk around behind her, rubbing her sides lightly.

"Care to give her shoulders a break, pick her up from the front so you can really slam into her?" Jake suggested playfully in his mate's ear before he took a place on the couch to watch.

"Sounds good to me," Chance grinned, removing the leg-bar and turning her around, kissing her heatedly as he took her hips in his hands. He shifted a bit, quickly finding a good angle for Jake to watch them. He shifted to rub himself against her sex, the new piercing rubbing against his cock.

"What are you waiting for?" Cathy asked him with a moan, wrapping her legs around his waist lightly.

"That," Chance purred, shifting to drive himself into her body, roaring as his balls pulled close and pumped his seed into her even as he started to thrust hard and fast into her, putting on the best show for Jake that he could.

* * *

Chance shifted uncomfortably as he got off his cyclotron. Even after Jake's blowjob and emptying his balls into Cathy before leaving, he was raging hard again thinking about the last twelve hours and what the next twelve were likely to contain. "You'd better be ready for a solid pounding, girl," he muttered to himself as he walked up to Cindy's front door and knocked.

A few moments passed before the door opened, showing Cindy in a light silk robe, two cups of coffee in hand.

"Morning, handsome," she grinned, handing him one of the cups before stepping back to let him in.

"Morning, beautiful," he grinned back and leaned down to kiss her cheek as she shut the door. "Hope you're in the mood for a real pounding."

"Mmm ... after you give me details," she grinned. "Don't need names, but any girl Jake spends the night with is going to be interesting."

"That's an understatement," Chance admitted with a twitch of his tail and sat down on her couch. "I can do pain, but I didn't understand why he was reluctant with me until now. It's _seriously_ hot when both sides are really into what's happening. I don't care what they said, they'll be seeing each other again. Soon I expect."

"Not a bad thing, I assume?" Cindy asked, sipping her coffee and sitting down next to him.

"Not if it goes anything like last night or this morning," he grinned. "Hell, he's even 'marked' her already. Under other conditions, I'd think Marie was in for some serious competition."

"Nah, not in the long run," Cindy snickered. "Worse that'd happen is you have a fourth person in bed regularly... so, c'mon, gimme the highlights, since I'm not going to get the highlight reel!"

"Let's see," he grinned a bit teasingly. "Started off with a bit of seduction. Kissed, undressed each other ... he never did take her thong off ... she gave him a tit job. Then when he was exploring her, she lifted her hands so I got her tied up in the living room rig. He teased her like I've never seen anyone let him before, and when she came he kept going until his tongue was tired."

"I'd make a joke, but I know you'd do the same if I didn't start begging before you had the chance," she giggled. "Go on."

"So do Marie and I," Chance pointed out with a soft smile. "That's one thing this girl has that I don't think he's really had before. He has _such_ a taste for the tease and drawing it out. Anyway, when he was done her legs were pretty much useless, so he just touched her lightly, fooling around, until she recovered. He leaned her over and took her hard. That's when she started to beg to be hurt. Bit her neck harder than I'd have dared, draw claws across her breasts and clawed at her clit. She was getting off on it big time."

"And you?" Cindy asked with a teasing tone, reaching over to finger his jeans-clad crotch.

"My chance was coming," he chuckled. "Once Jake was finished with her for a while. First he introduced her to one of his favorite games; alternating pain and pleasure. Licking her clean, then biting or clawing. Seems that she liked that too."

"Sounds like she likes his style," Cindy observed and unzipped his jeans to let his achingly hard cock free.

"Oh yeah. Even agreed to let him mark her. That ended up involving a very hot needle to her clit hood to make the hole and a dangly bit of jewelry for it. _Then_ he asked if I could fuck her senseless."

"And she said yes, I assume?" Cindy rumbled, taking his shaft in hand and stroking it lightly.

"Oh yeah," he grinned, rumbling deeply at her attention. "And I did. Picked her up and pounded into her. That clit-ring thing felt ... different. But she screamed for me so nicely, and I wasn't even hurting her.

"Probably the ring and what happens when you pound into somebody hanging from their arms," she giggled, reaching up to tease one of his barbs. "So, after that you called it a night, and came over here once you were up?"

"Nope," he grinned. "Morning included Jake waking me up with one _incredible_ blowjob, even for him. Got to watch him take her again, only this time her hands were tied to the headboard and her knees were spread _wide_ . He put something metal over most of her sex and started to fuck her. Never seen anyone squirm and scream like that, or come so hard so often. He wasn't far behind, either." He shook his head and leaned over to kiss Cindy. "Turned out it had little needles on both sides."

She shuddered slightly, even as she returned the kiss.

"Not my style, but I'll bet it was something to watch."

"With those two, oh yeah," he moaned in a mixture of memories and Cindy's efforts. "By the time he was done, she was a real come-matted mess. He took the device off and offered her to me again, given how hard I was. It was good, but having Jake waiting for me at the shower was _so_ much better. No pain, but he never fails to make me see stars, and he was _so_ ready for some guy attention by then."

"I'll bet he was... so who topped who?" She teased, slowing down her hand, trying to keep him from coming just yet.

"I topped him," he groaned and thrust into her hand a bit. "Pinned his hands over his head and pounded into him while the water poured down on us. Damn, that's always incredible with him."

"Always incredible to watch too," she grinned. "And your poor little friend was too tied up to enjoy, huh?" She asked with a pouty tone.

"Yeah," he chuckled. "Seems we wore her out. Rather like I plan to do to you."

"Ah, but _I_ haven't been busy for most of a night and morning already, unlike you," she smirked, starting to stroke him faster again. "Anything else particularly interesting?"

"Mmm, oh, yeah, he said he used capsaicin coated ice on her before waking me up."

"Oooh, I'll bet that _would_ be interesting," she rumbled, kissing his neck. "Gives me an idea, actually," she grinned, starting to stroke him faster. "Why don't you come for me, then we'll see about it?"

"No problem," he groaned and closed his eyes, letting all his attention go to his cock and her efforts to get him off until he shuddered and grunted with the first shot of milky fluid that erupted from him.

"That's better," she grinned, stroking him through his orgasm before licking her fingers clean. "Does the tabby think he's up for something new now?"

"Sure," he grinned at her, eager as ever to play.

"I've got something in mind I don't _think_ you've ever done before then," she grinned back, standing up and shucking her robe as she headed back towards the kitchen. "I'll be right back!" She called back playfully.

"I did eat ..." he said uncertainly.

"I'm just out here for props," she called back, sifting through the cupboard for a moment before she came back, licking her lips and popping something into her mouth. 

"Ever had a ginger blowjob?" She asked as she knelt in front of him.

"No," he admitted, looking at her curiously even as he toed his shoes off and pushed his jeans down so he could spread his legs for her.

"Tell me if this is too weird for you," she said seriously, before leaning forward, nuzzling his still-hard cock, working his jeans to the floor and off before taking him into her mouth, his cock starting to tingle along both sides almost immediately as whatever she'd put in her mouth rubbed along it.

"Mmm, that's interesting," he said before he moaned deeply as the sensations really started to sink in.

She grinned up at him, fondling his balls as she went to work, occasionally turning her head to tease him with the slivers of tingling sensations that spread along his flesh. The smell registered after a moment; ginger.

"Who thought of trying that?" He asked after a shudder of pleasurable heat curled up his spine.

She shrugged slightly, tapping her cheeks as if to point out that she couldn't really talk too much without dislodging the bits of ginger she'd put in her cheeks, though she started to suck on him harder, using her tongue to break a tiny piece off one of them and rub it along his barbs.

"Oh yeah," he ran his fingers through her hair as he resisted closing his hands on her hair. "Love your ideas, baby."

She pulled back, swirling her tongue around his tip with the ginger pressed right along the sides of his shaft... and he let loose with a roar, pumping his seed into her mouth to be swallowed greedily. Once he was done, she pulled back, spitting the ginger out into her hand and kissing his tip.

"Good to know," she grinned up at him.

"Now that that's twice I've gotten off, to your zero," he leaned forward to kiss her firmly. "How would you like to change that?"

"Mmm ... up for being filmed?" She asked him with a grin.

"As long as I get a copy," he grinned back.

"Okay," she rumbled, nuzzling his chest. "Which raises a more serious question ... willing to play towards a rape fantasy, you in charge, or is that script a little too close to home with what happened to Jake?"

"It's too close to something _extremely_ distasteful," he shook his head and tipped her chin up. "I'll dominate you, ravage you, make you beg me to stop ... but I can't ignore it when somebody says 'no'."

"That's why I asked," she murmured, kissing him tenderly. "So I'll just have to settle for being ravished," she grinned. "Recording room first?"

"Sounds good to me," he grinned and stripped his shirt off, leaving it with the rest of his clothing in the living room.

* * *

"What?" Carter shot upright in his chair at the kitchen table as the TV screen went black only two innings into the game. "S.A.R.A.H.!"

"I am sorry Sheriff Carter, but you are needed at 631 Chain drive. I will record the game for you." S.A.R.A.H. told him.

"Great," he sighed. "What's the problem over there?" He asked, getting up and heading for his coat.

"A body. As sheriff you are required to be there for all unattended death body retrievals," she explained. "Henry is already on his way."

"Wonderful," he groaned, heading for the door. "I'll be back as soon as I can, Zoe."

At least it wasn't the address for the felines or Dr. Wilson.

"Your beer will be cold and dinner hot, Dad," she called at him, more than a little grateful that whatever had happened, it was over with now.

Carter climbed up the stairs and into his car, the address already in his GPS to give him the directions. He dialed Henry's number as he pulled out, hoping to get the rundown on what had happened before walking into it.

"Hi Jack, there won't be much to this one," Henry's rather too-cheerful voice answered. "I'm fairly sure he died in his sleep. It's not much of a surprise, you just have to be here to represent law enforcement, since it was unattended."

"Jo couldn't?" He asked with a sigh.

"Well, yes, but do you _really_ want to ask her do anything right now?" Henry asked pointedly.

"Urr, yeah, right. Not really," he admitted. "I'll be there shortly."

"Thanks; just need you to look things over before I sign things through and take him out ... no next of kin at any rate, so that makes things easier than the last few months have been."

"That's a relief," Carter murmured and ended the call before he pulled up next to Henry's hearse-like truck outside a very normal looking single-story house. Only the fact that he was in Eureka made him doubt it was really that normal.

He walked up to the open door, giving a quick knock before he started in to warn Henry he was coming in. Just stepping inside the door told him what the owner worked on; computers. They were set up all through the house, even in the front room, most of them still running.

"At least it's not monsters," he said to himself and followed Henry's call towards the back of the relatively small home and the only bedroom.

"Well... smell's not too bad," he observed as he spotted Henry taking the last on-site observations and photos of the overweight, older man, thankfully clad in pajamas.

"Nope; think he's only been dead for a few hours," Henry said easily. "Dr. Orwell was asked to check in on him when he didn't contact anybody at GD today, despite having an appointment for a grant meeting. Called me after that."

"We got lucky then," Carter nodded. "So what is it I need to do, now that I'm here?"

"Mostly to make sure I don't screw something up, and that you can't spot anything that makes this look like more than natural causes."

"Right," Carter nodded and gave the room a more serious looking over. It didn't look like much; just an old, out of shape man that had died in his sleep. There were no pills, no bottles, no syringes ... nothing unusual at all.

Which, frankly, almost made him _more_ nervous in Eureka.

"We _do_ occasionally lose some of the old guard to things like this, Jack," Henry pointed out.

"So what do you know about him?" Carter asked quietly as he worked the room and Henry bagged the dead man for transport. "You are planning to do at least a basic autopsy and drug panel, right?"

"Dr. Johansen, computer programming ... helped develop some of the core languages out there, and standardized key elements of OOP," Henry said, his respect for the man clear. "And I will, don't worry about it... just because natural deaths happen here doesn't mean I don't make sure they aren't something more."

"Thanks," Carter nodded to him. "That's one set of questions I don't have to worry about now. "What happens to his stuff, without a next of kin?"

"Mostly up to Stark," Henry said easily. "Most of it's GD property, and it'll go back to the company. What exactly happens is something he'll have to figure out."

Carter nodded, glancing around. "Well I can't see anything that indicates this is anything but natural, as odd as that sounds around here. I trust you'll get done whatever you need to do."

"Thanks," Henry nodded slightly, wheeling in the gurney. "I'll take care of this then; you get home and enjoy the game, I'll get my report to you in a day or two."

"Thanks," Carter quirked a grin at him as he turned to leave. "I'll start brushing up on my medical terminology."

"I'll be sure to keep it simple, unless something strange comes up," Henry chuckled good-naturedly as Carter left to head back home.

* * *

Jake flicked the IM screen to the fore of his screen when it flashed that someone new was trying to contact him.

>   
> stingai: Hello RazorKat; how are you?
> 
> RazorKat: Pretty good. Who are you?
> 
> stingai: Sting. I've seen you online a lot. Are you a computer person too?
> 
> RazorKat: You could say that :) I do more work on vehicles than programming. Head of the TurboKat project.
> 
> stingai: TurboKat project? Haven't heard of that; can you talk about it?
> 
> RazorKat: A little. It's an advanced combat jet. The one that did a nosedive into the ground last month.
> 
> A few moments passed before the next reply came through.
> 
> stingai: Can't find much about it. Father's been sick, and I haven't been paying much attention to what's going on outside recently.
> 
> RazorKat: You probably felt it. We created quite a crater. I've almost figured out what happened. Do you work in Eureka?
> 
> stingai: I work anywhere there's a computer. :) Father used to work in Eureka too... he doesn't work anymore though.
> 
> RazorKat: Retired, or too sick?
> 
> stingai: I... don't know. He just doesn't work anymore. Think he's too sick. He went out with two men earlier though, maybe he'll work again after they help him.  
> 

Jake leaned back as the language started to sink in and he frowned. A child had to be _very_ young, or of very limited intellect, to not grasp the differences between sick and dead. It reminded him too much of when he first got to communicate with Kestryal when the current TurboKat had started to wake up. It was downright creepy in a random IM.

>   
>  RazorKat: What's your real name? I'm Jake Clawson.
> 
> stingai: Sting, I told you earlier.
> 
> RazorKat: Sorry. I'm not used to names like that. Most folks I know have two names like I do and the name they use in IM isn't their real one.
> 
> Again, a few moments passed.
> 
> stingai: Johansen, I guess. Sting Johansen. That was Father's last name, so I think it's mine?
> 
> Jake activated a tracer program to find out where this IM was coming from, now concerned that there might be a very young child unattended somewhere in Eureka with no one looking out for him.
> 
> RazorKat: That's usually how it works. Are you alone?
> 
> stingai: You're here. :)  
> 

Jake frowned, both at the answer and the scattered results of the tracer. This kid was all over the place. Not just moving, like he was walking, or even in a vehicle, but jumping from one end of town to another, up in GD headquarters, over at the sheriff's office, and not with nearly enough time to actually move that far.

"Probably has a tracer scrambler," he muttered to himself and wrote off the odd results.

>   
> RazorKat: Okay. Anything else you want to talk about?
> 
> stingai: Tell me about you? Don't meet new people very often, like to know more about you. :) If you're not too busy, of course.
> 
> RazorKat: What would you like to know?
> 
> stingai: Anything. :) What sort of things are important to you?  
> 

Jake leaned back, his tail twitching and ears flicked sideways as nearly every self-preservation instinct he had started to scream that this person was up to no good.

"Jake?" Chance looked over from his video game at the unexpected movement.

"Just don't like how this conversation is going," Jake answered as he tried to think of a way out without making it too obvious.

Chance just shook his head, paused his game and came over to read the last few lines as Jake looked up at his sideways.

>   
> RazorKat: His mate, who's typing and about to drag him off the computer for a little real life fun.
> 
> stingai: Okay. See you around, RazorKat.  
> 

"Now that that is over," Chance grinned and slid his hands down Jake's chest, "why don't we do something fun together, so I'm not lying?"

"Sounds good to me," Jake purred, leaning up to kiss his mate as he signed off.

"Mmm ... so, what was up with that?" Chance asked, returning the kiss before pulling Jake up out of the chair and running his hands down his sides.

"I'm not sure, but somebody is sure acting weird," Jake murmured. "Odd language, not willing to give real answers about himself, asking about what's important to me," he shook his head as he slid his hands under Chance's shirt. "Not sure who it really is."

"Think it's Melody?" The tabby asked, tugging Jake's shirt loose and slipping his hands into his pants to squeeze his ass.

"It crossed my mind," he said with a low moan and pressed against his mate. "It might just be somebody who has a poor grasp on the language. Might be an AI of some kind. I couldn't trace their location."

"Weird," Chance murmured, working Jake's pants down. "Mmm ... turn around," he purred lustily, kissing his mate's neck just above his collar.

Jake shivered as he turned his back to his mate and lifted his tail as he braced against the built-in computer desk.

Chance knelt, reaching between Jake's legs to fondle his balls lightly, starting to lick at his tight, furless pucker.

"Oh _yeah_ ," Jake arched his back inward as his cock quickly began to harden and slide from his sheath.

"You are _so_ lucky we don't have a webcam installed," the tabby grinned up at him.

"Like we don't star in enough porn available in Eureka," Jake teased back with a groan.

"True ... I'd been thinking of having you key in whatever it'd take to start emailing it to Marie," Chance smirked, his rough tongue working the nerve-dense flesh as he shifted his hand further up, stroking Jake's cock lightly.

"Very little," Jake moaned and reached over to his keyboard to activate the recording system and link it to a live transmission to Marie's computer via e-mail.

"Now we just have to see if she's home," Chance grinned, getting back to the task at hand just before the phone started to ring next to Jake.

"Answer it," Chance chuckled when Jake hesitated.

"Hello?" Jake did his best to keep his voice fairly even.

"Mmm ... I was just logging on to see if you were on tonight," Marie chuckled on the other end. "And would you believe what was in the email that _just_ came into my inbox?" 

Chance's tongue pressed up a bit deeper into Jake's anus, making it even harder to focus on the low, sultry tone to Marie's voice than the rimjob already had.

"I think I can," he said with a deep moan. "Know where I'd really like you right now?"

"Mmm ... in the room with you, wrapped around that hot, hard cock of yours?" She asked him with a low purr.

"Oh _yeah_ ," Jake arched and shuttered, his cock quivering in his mate's hand as he was pushed closer to the edge.

"Ooh... looks like your close," she teased. "You remember the dildo we got Cindy to make of you?"

"Y-yes," he panted as Chance continued to work him, though now with the intent to make it last a bit longer.

"I've got that, and your double-knotted canine friend here," Marie purred teasingly. "You want to know what I'm planning to do with them?" She asked, the sound of something soft hitting the floor, probably some of her clothes, faintly audible in the background.

"Show?" Jake barely managed to whimper.

"Gimme a minute," she giggled. A few moments later, an email from her popped into Jake's inbox, and he quickly opened it and the link to her own cameras, showing her naked in her computer room, spreading some lube on both the dildos.

"You can hang up now," she called out to the cameras, doing so herself. "So... which of these do you think should go up front?"

"You _know_ he prefers up front," Chance called out as he stood behind Jake and grabbed a mouthful of scruff, his hands on Jake's hips and his hard cock rubbing up against Jake's ass.

"So I guess it's only right that he gets to go there, huh?" She giggled, positioning the two fake cocks up against her pussy and ass. "Mmm ... count of three," she grinned up into the camera above her computer. "One... two... three!" On cue, she pressed down onto the two dildos with a moan, even as Chance sunk his own cock deep into Jake's ass, biting down even tighter around the cinnamon-furred tom's scruff.

Jake whimpered, then cried out as his balls contracted along with the rest of his body to shoot a stream of milky fluid across the computer desk as he clamped down hard on his mate.

"Oooh... gonna want to remember to clean that up... before you type again," Marie teased, moaning as she watched Chance pounded into Jake until his own balls tightened, filling his ass with tabby-seed, fingering herself and working the dildo in and out of her pussy as she watched the two of them enjoying each other.

* * *

Melody grumbled to herself as she sorted through her DVD's; her copies of Chance and Jake's videos seemed to have disappeared.

As though there was any real doubt what had happened. She had no doubts that Chance had taken them, along with the other things he'd retrieved. She just wished she could figure out how to trick him into breaking in while she was there....

"No time for that now, Mel," she muttered to herself, snagging another DVD at random and popping it into her overnight bag before she started out for her car. The way things were going at GD, she was already trying to find somewhere new to work once this was all over and Stark canned her over what happened with Jake. She should've known better than to go after somebody who was so close to her boss.

"Wouldn't be surprised to find out _they're_ sleeping together too," she muttered again and moved through the house, carefully checking all the locks and security systems. They'd never kept Chance out before, or even caught him on tape, but at least she'd make him work for getting in. He sure made sure she had to work, and the traps for putting her foot in the wrong place were getting downright fatal. They were turning that place into a junkyard fortress.

She could worry about that later, though it helped that she'd figured out most of the ways to get past the yard thanks to Jake's answers when she'd had him at her mercy. The tricky part was tricking Eureka's tracking system into thinking she was somewhere else, though she'd gotten that taken care of too.

With the locks secured, she headed out to the car and pulled out, still fuming, her bag on the seat next to her with what she'd need for her upcoming interview. It was going to be a long drive, but if she started out now she wouldn't have to drive through the night to get there.

Her Tom Tom beeped unexpectedly and she glanced at it as she left town, but there was nothing unusual on the screen.

As she headed out through the woods, it beeped again, and she took another look at it... only to find that it seemed to be perfectly normal.

"You know, I don't really need you just yet," she pointed out irritably, as though that might make the device start acting the way it was supposed to. There was another beep, this time from the car, as it flashed that her ABS was ready to engage.

"What the -"

Her eyes went wide as the steering and brakes stopped responding and the dashboard went dark.

"Oh _crap_ .

She tried to keep steering, but she couldn't get anything to respond. The only good news was that her engine had stopped too ... right along with her lights.

She reached down for the seatbelt, thinking about trying to jump ... but then the choice was made for her. She went off the road, slamming forward as the car rolled off the road, her airbags not even going off as she was practically choked by the seatbelt.

* * *

Sheriff Carter groaned silently when the phone rang and Jo grabbed it before he could. Despite the effectiveness of the voice masking system that made her sound normal and the holo-belt made her look human and not pregnant, _he_ knew better and he could hear the growl in her voice even though everyone said he was imagining things.

"Car crash out by milepost 13 on highway 140," she reported and stood to join him on the way out.

"I can probably handle this myself, if you'd like," he offered. "Henry been called?"

"Yes, that was Henry," she told him and sat back down.

"All right; did he say how bad it was?"

"No, but he didn't sound depressed," she shrugged. "No one died."

"At least there's that," Carter said, turning to head out. "Hold the fort, Jo; lemme know if anything comes up." He went out to his SUV and quickly dialed Henry before pulling out.

"Hi Jack," he answered shortly.

"Jo said you called an accident in; what's the situation?"

"Dr. Willson's car managed to hit the same tree that Dr. Orwell hit a while back," Henry explained. "Only this time it was the entire electrical system that went down."

"Is she hurt?"

"Not seriously," there was a pause as somebody shouted something in the background. "Not enough that it's hurt her lungpower anyways," Henry offered.

"Right," Carter groaned. "I'll be there shortly."

It didn't take him long to find his way out there. Melody, apparently not particularly hurt during the crash, was clearly ranting, looking almost as pissed as she'd been when he delivered the restraining order.

It was times like this that he longed for the peaceful days back with the Marshals in LA.

As he pulled to a stop he could hear her even before he opened the door.

"My car was just fine until this happened!" She shouted. "And you're telling me it was 'just a glitch?' I could've been killed!"

"Driving is statistically the most dangerous form of transportation," Henry informed her evenly. Then he blinked and looked up, his hand out flat. "It's too warm for snow," he murmured.

"Dr. Wilson, Henry," Carter sighed as he approached, looking up as the light snow began. "Well, I hope that whatever did this is intentional...."

"Sheriff, what are you going to do about this?" Melody demanded, indicating her car, though it wasn't that badly damaged.

"Unless there is some form of crime involved in the crash, there is nothing for me to do," he pointed out and pulled a Breathalyzer. "First is to make sure you aren't on anything that would influence your driving."

"Are you kidding?" She demanded. "For the love of God, the car just shut down in the middle of the road, wouldn't do anything, I could've been crocked and it wouldn't have mattered!"

"What matters is eliminating criminal activity," he countered. "Now take a deep breath and blow into the tube until I say to stop."

She did as he told, glowering the whole time.

"Keep blowing ... keep blowing ... keep blowing ... all right, you can stop," Carter ignored her outrage and checked the readout, which covered a whole lot more than the Breathalyzers he was used to.

"Clean?" Henry looked over at him through the lightly falling snow as he finished his field examination of Melody's car.

"Clean," Carter nodded, then looked back at Melody. "Dr. Wilson, where were you headed when this happened?"

"Seattle," she said brusquely. "I have an appointment there tomorrow afternoon that I want to be sure to keep."

"You want to consider a train or plane," Carter said dryly. "That car isn't going to make it."

"I'd gathered as much," she grumbled. "Still going to have to get to a station now though. One more thing I can thank those kats for."

"Care to share something?" Carter raised an eyebrow at her.

"Come on, do you _really_ think this was an accident?" She asked, rolling her eyes. "Clawson must've done something to my car, killed the electrical system."

"Do you have any proof that he came anywhere near your car since you drove it last?" Carter asked evenly.

"No more than he has that I raped him," she said acidly.

"So far you've failed to come even close to that level of proof," he countered with a level of steel in his voice that actually made her pause for a second. "There is no question that you had sex with him and he can not remember anything from that day. So far there is no hint of proof that he came anywhere near your car, much less did anything to it."

"Who _else_ would try something like this?" She pointed out. "My car's never done _anything_ like that before, and there's no good reason it should have started now!"

"You have a remarkable amount of faith in technology for somebody who lives in Eureka, and remarkably little grasp of its failings for someone in the electronics field," Carter said dryly. "Cars break down all the time."

"And if this was sabotage, it's going to take some serious work to find out what was done," Henry added as he closed the hood. "It's nothing like the damage done to Dr. Orwell or Dr. Moreau. The vehicle looks clean."

"Great, now I don't know what I'm doing either," she muttered. "If you don't need me for anything else, I'd like to try and get back home, so I can try and find some way to get to Seattle on time?"

"I'll get the car to the shop and see what I can find out," Henry said.

"Thanks," Carter groaned inwardly. "Get in, I'll drive you home."

She climbed into the passenger seat of his SUV, and he started to quietly wonder if it wouldn't just be easier to call a cab or something ... but no. He _did_ have a job to do yet.

* * *

Carter rolled his shoulders back as he reviewed the weekly reports. While nothing there was truly unusual for Eureka, which meant nine out of ten entries still made him shake his head, the number had been increasing for nearly a week. About the same time as Dr. Wilson's crash as he thought back on it.

He felt his body tense and tried not to show it when he heard Jo sniff the air heavily from where she sat at her desk.

Probably nothing ... though, now that he thought about it, there _was_ something in the air. Almost like some sort of hideous mistake at the cafe across the street.

"I sure hope that isn't today's Chef's Special I'm smelling," he half-joked, glancing over to see how Jo was handling it and tried not to wince physically at the glower she was wearing.

"Lilac and coconut?" She looked at him, her glower turning to a scowl as she stood.

Even without being able to see her real body, Carter could still read her half-canine body language now; she was tracking something by scent.

It was hard to remember her full height when he so rarely saw it, but right now it was easy to picture her wolf-woman form as she followed the trail to the air duct, all but ripped it off and caused the hologram to ripple and distort as she stuck her long muzzle into the duct that was far too high for her human form to do so.

"Coming out of the air system?" He asked her, frowning himself as he stood, following her over, though not getting too close.

"Yes," her voice was muffled and distorted by duct her head was inside. "Not your idea of aroma therapy?" she pulled her head out and looked over her shoulder at him.

"Do you _really_ think I'd try something like that?" He asked her seriously. "Especially with those smells?"

"Some days I think you're crazy enough to try anything," she said drolly. "He has," she nodded towards the man walking in with a grin ready to split his face wide open.

"I've _done_ it," Taggart chortled in delight. "I _got_ him!" He paused and sniffed the air. "Rather odd aroma therapy you have going on, Sheriff. Though she responds better to gun oil and black powder."

"And where is he that you think will keep him?" Jo asked with a touch of amusement in her voice.

"It's not aroma-therapy, at least not intentionally, and who is the 'he' in question?" Carter asked with a sigh.

"Lojack; he's out in the back of my truck. Finally caught the little bugger," Taggart grinned, all but dancing in his excitement. "He got sloppy while he was stealing some dinner."

"Well, it seems you got sloppy with your lock," Jo observed with a low chuckle and motioned towards the empty truck.

"What the...." Taggart twisted around to look, scowling. "That's a computerized lock! He _can't_ have found a way to beat that so fast, and it latches automatically! I _had_ him."

"Looks like The Devil Himself beat you again," Carter tried not to smile too much at Taggart's perplexed frustration.

"He shouldn't have, this time," Taggart muttered, going out to inspect the cage, his jeep already coated in a light blanket of snow. "Bloody hell, the entire thing's shut down! Wiring's all intact, but...."

"Guys ...." Jo said with an uncharacteristic stammer in her voice. "We have a problem."

"What?" Carter looked at her, uncertain what she saw, or smelled, or what, in the sky where she was staring.

Taggart looked the direction she was. "Now that is not good," he agreed quietly. "Snow here, much warmer up there."

Carter looked up with them, seeing the distortions he was used to seeing mid-afternoon in LA.

"Okay... this is very strange," he muttered. "Anybody at GD working on weather control you guys know about?"

"Always," Jo rolled her eyes. "Three or four at any time."

"Okay, I'm gonna call Stark, it looks like a couple of them can't make up their minds on what to do with their test run," he grumbled, pulling out his cell phone only to have it start to ring, right along with Jo's and Taggart's pager, and the two phone lines inside the office.

"Hello?" Carter answered his phone as he kept an ear on the other two conversations going on. "A snake in your what? Fargo, if you're jerking me around ... hang on, I've got another call."

"I'll be right there," Jo was saying even as she ran for her Jeep, a very large, reinforced and topless vehicle modified for her current size and temperament towards it. "Hello?" she switched to a new incoming line.

Taggart flipped his own phone closed as he finished his call, hurrying to jump into his truck.

"Shrew problem at Seth's," he called in explanation. "Going to need your help today, from the sound of it!" He warned Jo and Carter before peeling out towards the edge of town.

"Wonderful," Carter sighed, heading for his cruiser and starting for Fargo's. It was a short drive, but fraught with frantic calls about animals on the loose. Everything from a small army of lab rats running loose to a large snake in Fargo's bed to the most disturbing one of all: the Moreau's cages were all open. At least the two Kats would likely deal with that mess before he got there, and it didn't sound like anything _too_ dangerous was on the loose.

After the 'werewolf incident,' he was rather sure there'd be more panic and gunfire in the background if that was the case.

He pulled up by Fargo's house as Taggart continued on to Seth's, and headed in.

"Okay Fargo, what sort of snake are we talking about?" He called out as he headed in. At least with the cold weather it'd probably be sluggish.

"What do you think I am, some kind of herpetologist?" Fargo screeched. "It's big, black and red, and in my _bed_ !"

Carter quietly promised himself that he wouldn't take any of the thousand cheap shots that sprang to mind as he went back to see what it was.

"Okay... it looks like somebody tried to mix an anaconda with a corn snake," he mused, looking over at the curled up snake that was glaring at Fargo and the Sheriff with all the fury a lethargic 'giant' snake could muster.

Of course, at eight feet long and not the width of Carter's fist, it wasn't much of a giant.

"Have a spare pillowcase handy?" He asked Fargo as he calculated the best way to get a hold of the animal without getting bitten.

"Here," a piece of fabric was quickly shoved into his hand.

"Want to run over to Seth's, see if Taggart's done with his shrew problem yet? He might have a better idea how to do this than I've got," Carter admitted, stepping into the room and holding the case wide open. 

He head Fargo mutter something about calling a cop to do a dogcatcher's job. He kept the snake's attention, not a particularly difficult task as it wasn't the least bit interested in moving.

"Uh, Fargo ... is your bed heated in any way?" He called after a minute of trying to get behind the snake with no success. 

"Of course ...." his voice trailed off as he realized heat meant energy to the creature in his bed. "Mattress and blanket. Taggart's coming."

"Great ... I think I'll just wait here until he can see this thing," Carter decided, not particularly interested in finding out if there was cobra or something mixed into the reptile too. It wasn't all that bad a wait, except for having Fargo jittering at his elbow the entire time.

He was rescued by his cell phone going off.

"Hello?" He answered, desperately hoping that it would be something better than a snake capture. Fortunately, it was... unfortunately, it was a little more serious too.

"Sorry, Fargo, but we've got traffic signals going haywire on Main, somebody's got to handle the blocks. Taggart'll be here any minute now."

"What?!" Fargo just about lost it completely. "You can't leave me alone with that thing!"

"You can handle it. It's not moving. Just know where it is when Taggart gets here," Carter responded as he headed out.

"If it eats anything...." Carter was out of earshot before the almost inevitable 'I'll sue' was out, fortunately. It gave him a few minutes to try and figure out what the Hell was going on as he drove back into the heart of Eureka to start playing traffic cop on the increasingly snow-covered roads.

It was dull work, and friggin' cold to his southern California standards, but he was happy to have something relatively mindless to do so he could think, match patterns and form a plan.

"There you are!" Allison's voice broke into his thoughts. "What is going on?"

"I was kinda hoping you knew," he admitted. "Something's making the computers start going -" The traffic lights simply shut down completely for a moment. "Well crap."

"It's getting worse, then," she frowned, then looked down at a beep from her pocket. "Hold on, I've got a message," she pulled her PDA out.

"Same here," Carter sighed and clicked the device open, only to have his eyes go nearly as wide as Allison's.

"Okay... not something I needed to see," they said in unison as they turned off the broadcast messages.

"Furlong and Dr. Orwell?" Carter asked her.

"I think you got lucky," she said, glancing around at the people checking their PDA's in their cars. "Okay... I'd say somebody was being very, very sick, but I think it's something bigger than that."

"I think we need to have a chat with Stark, see if he has another 'kid' that might come home," Carter murmured and glanced at the warped sky. "This is _so_ not good."

Just then, the lights came back on... and stayed on this time.

"Okay, I think we need to go talk to Nathan now," Allison said easily, turning to head to her car, Carter right behind her.

"Before it gets any worse," Carter agreed and climbing into his own Jeep to follow Allison towards GD's facility, grateful to see that there wasn't too much damage done along the way. They were just about to the bridge when his phone rang. He seriously considered ignoring it, but sighed and clicked the loudspeaker option on. "Sheriff Carter."

"We have a situation developing, Sheriff," Stark said by way of an opening.

"I've noticed," he pointed out dryly. "I've been working on several of them, and I'm on my way in to ask about it."

"I will see you shortly then," Stark said and hung up.

"Just hope they managed to get the Moreau's animals locked up again," Carter muttered to himself as he pulled in at GD, walking in briskly with Allison and went directly to Stark's office. It wasn't hard to realize that the entire complex was in a level of controlled panic.

"At least Fargo isn't here," Carter muttered to himself.

With a little luck, he was busy trying to charm the snake... or being charmed by it.

"We've got the last of the monkeys contained, sir." One of GD's security officers informed Stark as Carter stepped into his office. "Still trying to find where the bats have roosted though."

"Try the ventilation system," Stark suggested. "They'll want a dark, enclosed space fairly high up."

"Yes, sir," the guard nodded sharply and escaped the room to leave his boss, Sheriff and DoD Liaison alone.

"What's going on here, Stark?" Carter asked, getting down to the point.

"Everything electrical has had some level of malfunction, several of them quite serious," he said simply. "The results are now largely under control and the systems stabilized. This is no possible way for this to have been a malfunction. There are too many disparate systems and effects involved that are linked only by the power grid. This had to be the result of an intentional action."

"Are you sure it has to be intentional, or could it have been something like the virus that came in with Callister? And could we get those weather-control projects shut down before the town's split between a heat wave and a blizzard?"

"It is being worked on," Stark said evenly. "Callister was ... unique," he quieted considerably. "That was because of a corrupted system that could not be altered. It is not the same. I've already checked the AI projects. None are even close to that level of complexity yet."

"What about our aliens?" Allison asked.

"It would have happened long before this if it was inherent in their systems," Stark shook his head.

"And it _really_ wouldn't make sense for them to have set something like this up... do you think it might be an extension of the other sabotage efforts that happened before this?" Carter asked, leaning back to think about what could be behind all this.

"It would be distinctly possible, though there are no obvious links beyond timing and location," Stark considered it, then scowled. "I think I will be putting Dr. Wilson under tighter security. She has the means and motive."

"Not to shoot down a good idea, but I think this is a little large-scale for her," Carter admitted. "Won't hurt to keep a closer eye on her though. So, what is there we can do to try and get this under control faster?"

"It may be larger in scale than she could plan, but I have seen too many projects go far beyond their original intentions," Stark pointed out. "When you come up with a better suspect, do tell me and I will make sure they can not do this again. You can assist best by dealing with the symptoms and keeping me informed on your progress in the investigation."

"If it gets out of hand the way it just did again, we're going to need more than two bodies to handle things," Carter pointed out. "Jo and I can only be in two places at once."

Allison gave Stark a bit of a scowl. "Nathan, John Sanders and I can all authorize the loan of security officers to the sheriff's office when you need them."

"John Sanders?" Carter glanced at her.

"The head of security," she said.

"Right. I'll make sure to call the next time things get out of hand," Carter said easily and turned to leave to deal with the remains of the chaos outside and inside.

* * *

"Jeeze, you'd think they'd have melted the snow instead of just clearing it off the roads!" Marie groused as she kicked her shoes off in the entrance to Jake's house. "Guess somebody figured that once it was down, just as well to leave it there...."

"Don't get us started," Chance muttered, taking the bag with dinner in it from her. "When things get like this in MKC, we usually start looking for nutbar Omegas that need blowing up."

"Now the nutbar is employed by the same folks we are," Jake added as he tried to get the snow and wet out of his fur and stop shivering. "I'm grabbing a shower to warm up and dry off." He finally decided.

"We'll get dinner into the oven to warm up again," Marie offered as he headed off to the shower. "You guys get even less snow than we do, don't you?"

"Thanks," Jake called back to her.

"We don't even get _cold_ ," Chance muttered and fluffed his fur "The summer weather here's nice, but winter sucks."

"You'll get used to it," Marie chuckled slightly. "It's not usually like this around here; you can thank whatever was going on earlier for the wet."

"You get plenty of rain even when the weather's normal," he pointed out, basking in the heat from the oven for a moment.

"I meant the combination of cold and wet," she chuckled, tugging his tail. "We don't usually have this sort of snow and stuff. Just look on the bright side; gives the three of us an excuse to strip later," she teased.

"Mmm, okay, I can see that as a plus," he conceded and let her shut the oven door. "And get very close," he purred with a wicked grin. "Care to go drag Jake out of the shower? You know how long he can stay in there."

"Only if you come in to drag us both out if supper's ready before we get back," she teased.

"What makes you think I'll be out here?" he licked his whiskers back.

"Because if you come back _with_ me, I _know_ supper'll burn before we get Jake out of the shower," she laughed, heading back to see if he'd warmed up yet. She snickered at the grumbling behind her as Chance realized he'd just set himself up to be the one not seeing Jake naked.

She wasn't even remotely surprised that the shower was still on and the master bathroom steamy when she walked in.

"Warming up nicely?" She asked, resisting the urge to strip down and join him for a few minutes.

"Mmm, yeah," his voice was low and contented. It was a very different sound from only a few minutes before when he was thoroughly grouchy.

"I don't suppose I can talk you into coming out and drying off for dinner, before those of us who haven't showered get to find other ways to warm up?" She asked with a teasing purr.

"Food's warm?" He asked even as he turned off the water and the blowers on.

"It will be by the time you're done," she purred, looking up and down his body appreciatively. "Chance just figured it'd be a good idea to get you out now... I think he didn't realize that asking me meant he wouldn't be the one who got to watch you naked in the shower," she winked.

"I'm sure he had more than watching in mind," he laughed easily and reached out to grab a brush to work the thicker fur into the hot air to dry faster. "I'm sure he expects you're going to have that fun instead of him too."

"And believe me, I'm tempted," she purred, moving around behind him, enjoying how his fluffy, warm fur felt as it dried. "But I think we'll save that for after dinner."

"Mmm, think it might be a first," he chuckled and pressed into her touch. "I'm in a shower with somebody and nothing's going to happen."

"Mmm ... is that a complaint?" She giggled, kissing his neck. The shiver she caused ran right through his body and into hers. "'Cause y'know, if you wanted, we could _not_ give Chance a heart attack when we get out there and you haven't stuck it to me...."

"Now both sound fun," he groaned as she slid her hands around to his chest. "But I know what sounds best," he turned around in her embrace and kissed her soundly as his hands worked her shirt off.

"Not gonna complain," she purred, letting him press her against the wall as she kissed him back, her shirt landing on the floor. "After this afternoon, I could use a good fucking."

"I think I can manage that," Jake said and went to work on her jeans while she toed her shoes off. He let his mouth wander down to her breasts, suckling and nipping teasingly.

She spread her legs as he worked her pants down, running her hands down his back, her claws raking him lightly through his fur before she started to massage his firm ass. Soon her hands were restricted to his head and shoulders as he knelt and nuzzled her sex.

"Want me to make you roar before I take you?" Jake offered with a teasing lick across her clit.

"Oooh... time for that later," she rumbled and ran her hands down his chest as he stood, ending up with one cupping his balls and the other playing along his full, hard cock. "For now, I just want you inside me."

"Anything you want, beautiful," Jake groaned into a demanding kiss and guided her leg up around his hip so he could easily press inside her willing body.

"Oh yes," she moaned deeply, squeezing down around him, biting his shoulder lightly. "We'll stretch this out more later," she promised him.

"That I'm sure of," he chuckled through a moan and began to thrust, rocking his hips as he helped support her weight.

She milked him skillfully, reaching up to start rubbing the spot above his tail as her sex began to ooze fluid every time he pulled back. Their scents filled the bathroom with an erotic aroma that only heightened their desires.

"Gonna have an audience soon," she moaned.

"You mind?" He licked at her neck and shifted his angle slightly to rub against her clit and inside a bit more with each thrust.

"Not a bit," she grinned, leaning her head back, exposing her throat to him. "Mmm ... let's give the tabby a show!"

Jake chuckled and lifted his tail even as he pulled her hips away from the wall a bit so she'd move more freely with every thrust.

It was just about then that Chance came in for them, and shook his head at the predictable outcome. He slipped into the bathroom to watch them, his eyes roaming both their bodies. It was everything he loved in one nice package; Jake's tight ass and an attractive female with her legs spread and tits bobbing as she was taken. It was something that six months ago he'd never expected to see. If nothing else, this world had been very good for Jake's appreciation of the female form,

"Supper's on top of the stove, but it can wait a bit," he grinned at them both.

"Requests?" Jake winked at him.

"Make her scream," Chance grinned and lightly rubbed himself through his jeans. As much as he liked being in the middle of the action, there was something to be said for watching two hot Kats going at it, especially live.

Marie groaned at the request and the shiver it sent through her lover's body as he took her with an open desire to do just what was asked of him.

It wasn't long before Jake managed exactly what Chance had asked for; Marie screamed as her body clamped down around Jake's shaft, milking him hungrily until he pumped his seed deep into her sex. He pressed her against the wall so he wouldn't lose his footing too badly.

"Now that's a show," Chance grinned as he watched them both pant for breath and the reflexive jerking of Jake's hips as his orgasm cooled.

"Mmm ... means one of us hasn't come yet though," Marie murmured teasingly, licking one of Jake's ears lightly. "Think it's only fair if we fix that, don't you?"

"I think so," he grinned at her, groaning as he pulled out of her, parting with a sound kiss.

"I think this needs some attention," he said as he walked up to Chance and slid his fingers over the tabby's to squeeze his groin lightly. "Mmm?"

"If you think I'm gonna turn that offer down, you're nuts," Chance grinned, unzipping his pants as Jake knelt in front of him.

"This time, I'll watch," Marie purred deeply, her gaze on the pair hungry while she watched Jake nuzzle and lick the cock that had been a part of his sex life for so long.

"Oh yeah," Chance groaned and leaned back when Jake shifted from the familiar touches he enjoyed the most to swallow Chance's shaft whole and began bobbing his head up and down, his tongue working the rubbery barbs in a decidedly clear effort to get his mate off fairly quickly.

Chance didn't hold back, either. He thrust up into Jake's mouth, making a show of it for Marie as his balls churned beneath Jake's touch, pre leaking into the cinnamon-furred tom's mouth. His own mouth slipped open as his eyes closed. With a chest-deep growl his touch on Jake's hair went from caressing to holding. He felt Jake relax into the grip and hard thrusts that started to come with tightened balls, the lean tom willing to let him take control and make a good show of it for Marie.

"Mmm," Marie slipped her fingers between her legs to work her seed soaked flesh still full of blood and sensitive from the pleasure Jake had given her so recently. "You two are hot together."

Chance roared, pumping his seed into Jake's mouth, the lean tom swallowing it all with practiced ease.

"Mmm ... and all three of us only makes it hotter," he grinned at her loopily.

Marie grinned back and walked up to kiss him. "How about we eat, then get on to the main event?"

"With pleasure," Chance purred, kissing Jake as he stood.

* * *

Chance rolled his shoulders and grabbed the small bag of goodies from Cafe Diem as he got off his bike outside the high school. While it wasn't his idea of a great place to meet with Zoe, he was really missing her company and she'd be grounded for months yet. She'd said she didn't have any real problem sneaking out, but he wasn't about to be the one there when her father found out. So a few munchies worth of time would just have to do until her father decided she was contrite enough to let her loose again.

He couldn't even remember exactly what she'd gotten in trouble for anymore. He'd be a bit surprised if she even did, to be honest... but that was pretty much par for the course for troublemakers. If anybody knew that, it was him.

He headed into the school, quickly spotting Zoe sitting in the cafeteria, waiting for rehearsal to start. She grinned as he started over towards her table and took a seat.

"So, how's it going?" He asked her.

"School's okay, the play's going well, home sucks," she summarized it quickly. "I can't believe dad's still pissed about Halloween. He wasn't this upset when I'd run away."

"It _does_ seem like a bit much," Chance agreed. "On the other hand... not worth much, but at least it means you're mostly out of the line of fire when things go screwy like they did yesterday."

"I know, but six _months_ ?" she fumed. "I'd be over with my now if S.A.R.A.H. didn't keep track of it and me," she paused and cocked her head a bit. "You're partner is a computer geek, right? Think he can get her to forget about me being grounded?"

"I could ask him, but I don't know if he'll go along with it," Chance admitted. "Have to find out. Maybe he'll come to his senses pretty soon."

"I think he's enjoying actually having me obey the curfew too much to change his mind," she muttered angrily. "S.A.R.A.H.'s a real pain."

"Like I said, I'll ask Jake about it, but I can't make any promises," Chance said apologetically. "By the way... you haven't been having any trouble with Dr. Wilson, have you?"

"No, but I hardly get to see adults anymore, besides my dad and sometimes Jo. How's things going for you?"

"Aside from Dr. Wilson, not that bad... woman's got a screw loose somewhere," Chance muttered. "Things are going pretty good though... Thanksgiving was surprisingly normal, and everybody's getting obsessed with getting ready for Christmas, it seems."

"Don't remind me," she nearly growled. "The biggest parties of the _year_ and I'm going to miss them all."

"Sorry," he said sheepishly, flattening his ears, though it couldn't be seen through the hologram he was wearing. "Maybe he'll let you out for that... pretty harsh for whatever it was specifically he had a problem with."

"I think it was the whole thing put together, though it was the drugs that he really flipped out about. That and not being home when he got up."

"Well, the first part of that you didn't know about," Chance pointed out. "Y'want me to try and talk to him? Or Jake?"

"I don't know if he'll listen, but that'd be great," she brightened a bit. "Even if it's just a couple of the public parties."

"Hey, it's not like he's gonna ground you longer if I talk to him," Chance chuckled. "Just might lock me up for a few days if he decides to, and I don't think he's _that_ whacked out."

"Not usually," Zoe giggled. "What is Dr. Wilson up to that has you so worried?"

"Eh, like I said, the woman's got a screw loose," he muttered. "She gave Jake some trouble, and I think she gave some to Cindy and Marie too, so I wanted to be sure you hadn't made it onto her radar. She's got it in for pretty much anybody I like, since she's not on the list."

"Does Dad know?" she asked with a soft seriousness. "Stalkers are bad news. Around here ... they could manage anything."

"Yeah, he knows, and we've been working on what we can. Trying to catch her breaking into our place some time, until then I just take back whatever she walks off with. What worries me is that she _has_ gone after Jake, and probably Marie and Cindy too."

"Can you prove she's done anything?" Zoe asked, though she was sure from her conversation with her Dad that they couldn't. Not seriously, anyways.

"One of 'em, the others we know are a crime, but can't prove she did it. The sort of thing that might've gotten a bunch of the Enforcers back home 'talking' with somebody just before they decided to move up to Saydan Bay," Chance chuckled slightly. "Not an option here, of course."

"Sounds like Enforcers protected their own," she considered him seriously. "It's not so easy here."

"I know," he nodded and absently took a bite from a gooey cinnamon roll that Vincent at prepared for them. "She can't come near Jake anymore, and I'm keeping a bit of an eye on everybody else. Have the time, since Jake's still putting together the Turbokat again."

"But she can get into your house," Zoe thought out lout and followed his reminder that there was food to be had. "Have you changed all the security codes?"

"Several times," he nodded.

"The back doors?" She looked at him and popped a cheese ball into her mouth.

"Urr, I don't know. That's a Jake thing," he admitted.

"Might be good to check on," she mused. "It'd be a way for her to get in anyways. What's her specialty? She might have just hacked security."

"Ummm, electronics of some kind," he tried to remember anything more. "I don't know what kind."

"Might be able to do it," she mused.

"Well, on a better topic... still planning on that late birthday party once your Dad lets you out again?" Chance asked with a bit of a grin.

"Oh yeah," she brightened considerably and munched on a crescent roll filled with something dark, sweet and savory all at once. "Even late, sixteen is a major one. It might even coincide with a trip up to Seattle with some friends once I get my license and a car."

"You really want a car?" Chance asked with that look that was too easy to recognize as probing for information he planned to use.

"With the weather around here and probably wanting to take passengers, it _would_ probably be more useful," she chuckled slightly.

"But not nearly as sexy," he countered, a lot less certain of himself now.

"Believe me, I wouldn't mind a bike at all," she grinned. "Especially if I end up going back to California later. Just that finding a used car's on my list of things to do too."

"Then you _would_ like a non-combat Cyclotron?" he asked, wanting to be sure.

"Hell yes, if I could drive it," she grinned.

"It shouldn't be _that_ hard to pass the test," he teased her. "You've got a few months to study for it."

"I'll just need to get Jo to smuggle me the books," Zoe snickered. "I hope you and Jake'll be able to come whenever I do end up having the party?"

"If we're still on this planet, we will be," he promised and glanced up as an older teen approached. "I think rehearsal's on."

"Oh well," she sighed, standing up. "I'd _better_ be able to count on you and the others in the seats opening night," she grinned before heading off.


	15. Christmas Preparations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Between decorating trees, making and buying gifts, and trying to keep Zoe out of trouble, Chance realizes that family is family and that Jake can get hospitalized for _something_ no matter how careful they are.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written with Karl Wolfemann

"So, are we going to set the tree up at my place, or over here?" Marie asked Chance and Jake later that night. "I've got an artificial one, if you don't want to mess around with the real thing."

"I like how evergreens smell," Jake said quietly, glancing between the other two.

"We can go with a real one too," Chance said easily. "Gotta be somewhere in town that sells them," he chuckled.

"Yeah, there is," Marie smiled. "If you look hard enough, we can even find ones that haven't been tweaked with, or we can just go out of town if you want the natural sort without hunting."

"How tweaked with?" Jake asked.

"Usually things like better color and needle retention, aiming for better spacing on the branches, that kind of thing; the usual genetic work. Christmas trees don't usually get the weird stuff," Marie giggled.

"I think we'll go for the natural angle," Chance shook his head. "How far out of town do we have to go to just have good trees to check out?"

"If you want 'em fresh, there should be a farm just a few minutes out of town," Marie said easily. "Want to head out tonight?"

"It's not too early?" Jake asked, even though he was already headed for the closet for their coats and holo-belts.

"Nope," she said easily, taking her belt and coat from Jake. "If we find a good one, keep it watered right, it'll last out the season easy. One thing that _isn't_ cheating is using the family recipe to keep it in good shape," she winked.

"So is there any reason beyond tradition for cutting down a tree and sticking it in your living room for a month?" Jake asked as they checked each other for the hologram looking right.

"Not really," Marie admitted. "At least not that isn't just part of another tradition. It's one of the reasons a lot of folks have gone to artificials, along with cleaning up needles through the next few months ... going to need to pick up a stand and mat too," she mused.

"And things to decorate it with," Chance added with a grin as they headed into the cool, light wind that this time didn't carry snow or rain.

"Those _I've_ got," Marie grinned back. "We'll want to take either my car, or your truck; up to you guys."

"The car's more comfortable," Jake said.

"But the truck'll make it easier to bring back, and it's nice and cozy," Chance winked.

"And we can snuggle while the tabby drives," Marie giggled. "Besides, more space for a good-sized tree that'll handle the decorations."

"All right," Jake nodded and climbed into the truck after Marie to settle in. "What kinds of decorations do you have?"

"The usual lights, bulbs, some garland and tinsel. A few different sorts that are a bit more personal... hard to describe them all," she smiled as they pulled out and headed out of town. "We _should_ go somewhere so you guys can pick out a couple, after we have the tree, but that can wait a day or two if you'd rather."

"We might want to tonight, since we actually have Jake's attention," Chance teased.

"Oh, I think we could get it again if we have to, but you're probably right," she giggled. "Besides, then we can get the decorating done tonight, have some hot chocolate, and go snuggle up for a while."

"Now that last one sounds really good," Jake purred and nuzzled her. "Maybe try out that new fireplace."

"Sounds good to me," she rumbled, returning the nuzzle and leaning against him likely. "Mmm ... then we'll have to get the rest of our Christmas shopping done some time soon. I hate doing it at the last minute," she chuckled.

"We got ours done already," Jake chuckled. "Internet's great, and gifts are easy to figure out."

"Maybe for you," Marie snorted. "I've got you guys, a couple co-workers, Dad, Cindy... thinking about trying to get Mom something, but it's hard to come up with ideas that wouldn't just make things nastier."

"Hey, our list wasn't that short either," Chance objected.

"Remember, all his girlfriends get something," Jake added. "Plus you, your dad, each other, Cindy, Cathy, Zoe and Jo."

"Oh, all right," Marie chuckled slightly. "Well then I'll just have to handle the last of my shopping on my own... mostly for Mom and Cindy, honestly. You might actually be able to help with that," she mused, looking over at Chance. "You can fill me in on whether or not I'd be repeating anything for her."

"Sure, what did you have in mind?" he glanced at her as they took the only road out of town.

"Nothing specific in mind," she giggled. "Y'see, when we were in college, she got me started on Zeta's toys as a joke gift. Since then, we've kinda been dueling with toys or videos, trying to one-up each other. I just don't want to repeat something she already owns."

"Well I do know her collection fairly well," Chance grinned. "Unless you want to make something _unique_ for her."

"Private videos are out, at least ones starring Cindy or I, if that's what you're thinking," Marie said, shaking her head a bit. "If you're thinking of something else, go ahead," she added with a grin.

"Pretty much what I was thinking," Chance admitted.

"Of course, I suppose we _could_ do one with the two of you," she mused, playfully nuzzling Jake. "Or some of the others who might be interested."

"Tonya?" Chance half-suggested, honestly not sure if Jake would go for it. He was relaxing a lot about females, but it was still always when he wanted something that she had to offer beyond just sex.

"Maybe," Jake said uncertainly. "I don't think I know her."

"Girl I met at the Heat Wave, I've gone out with her a couple times since then," Chance explained. "Has a real thing for body paint."

"Oh God, her," Marie giggled. "Actually, don't think she's in many of Cindy's videos."

"I don't know if _she'd_ go for it, but it could be a lot of fun. She makes an incredibly hot Tigress," Chance added with a low rumble.

"Huh?" Jake asked, looking over at Chance, cocking his head curiously.

"She specializes in new materials," Marie explained. "Including body paint in place of clothes... there's been a couple incidents, and sometimes I think that the only thing she's wearing at work is her lab coat, but I don't try to look too closely. More on the topic though, one thing _did_ occur to me... how do you feel about spying on Chance and Cindy some night?" She asked Jake with a cheerful purr.

"Like fun," he grinned at his mate. "Assuming she wouldn't freak."

"She'd probably be pissed just long enough to get us out so she could enjoy it in private," Marie snickered. "She gets off on being watched as much as on watching."

"Especially if she knows whoever's watching is getting off too," Chance purred deeply.

"Sounds like we have a surprise to set up," Jake grinned playfully. "And probably a really hot addition to our video collection."

"Okay, so where exactly is this tree place?" Chance asked.

"Should be about two miles down, on the left," she said easily. "Just stick on the main highway."

"Right," Chance nodded and kept an eye open for a place with lots of evergreen trees and some indication they were for sale, unlike the forest all around them.

"There it is," Marie indicated as they approached the reasonably sized tree farm. "Should still have a bunch of good ones to pick from too."

"We'll have to trust you on that one," Jake said as they pulled into the well-marked parking lot with several vehicles already there.

"Mainly, you want to find one that's tall and fairly straight," Marie explained. "The thicker the better, usually."

"Not gonna touch that one," Chance chuckled as they unbuckled and climbed out.

She could only roll her eyes as Jack snickered.

"Welcome," an older man that looked like he worked with trees for a living greeted them warmly. "Would you care for a warm drink while you look around?"

"Cider, if you've got any left?" Marie asked easily, not sure how long it would take to look around, but pretty sure that Chance and Jake would be half-frozen by the time they were done, fur coat or not. They just weren't used to anything resembling wet or cold weather.

"Of course," he said easily and turned to go the few steps to his small shack to pour hot water into three paper cups after emptying a packet of powder into each.

"Thanks," Marie smiled, taking her cup and letting the kats take theirs. "So, let's go take a look," she said, leading the two of them towards the back rows. They passed among Canaan, Douglas, Noble, Fraser and Balsam firs, Virginia and Scotch Pins and White Spruce, each in their own groupings and roughly sorted by size. Everything from little two foot tall tabletop trees to twenty foot monsters where available, but the bulk were between five and seven feet tall.

"Kats, this place smells good," Jake breathed in deeply.

"Pretty potent, but yeah," Marie agreed. "So, any particular direction that smells good to you guys?"

"These smell really good," Jake motioned to a group a medium green trees with a lavish spread of limbs covered in short branches loaded with needles. They looked fairly solid, but not as tightly packed as some trees there.

"Douglas Firs," she nodded. "It's a good one for decorating."

"Let's look through them then," Chance grinned, taking a sip of his drink before they started back into that area of the farm.

"How tall are you guys interested in decorating?" Marie asked as they looked through them.

"Not too tall for the ceiling," Jake shrugged. "So Chance's easy reach is as tall as we could go."

"Sounds good to me; we won't have to screw around with a stepstool to get things on top of it," she grinned.

"How about this one?" She asked after they'd spent a few minutes looking through the rows of trees. "Shouldn't be too tall, and we shouldn't be able to see through back into the trunk too much once it's decorated."

"Sure," Chance nodded. "You're the one who knows what to look for."

"Brave soul, trusting me," she giggled, looking over towards the edge of the farm and quieting down quickly. "Look over there," she whispered, indicating a thicker patch of woods just off the farm's sale lot.

Both kats froze; their senses open as they zeroed in on the movement.

"Two, three does," Jake said softly. "Brave creatures."

"They know there won't be any hunters around here," Marie pointed out in a soft whisper. "White-tail deer," she added as one of them poked its head out of cover and looked around, watching the three of them carefully. "Don't suppose somebody nabbed an apple or something on the way out?" She asked curiously.

"No," Jake shook his head, fascinated by the wild animals that really didn't seem to care they were there.

"Nope," Chance agreed, watching just as intently as a yearling stepped out next, leaning down to sniff at a Styrofoam cup somebody had dropped earlier, licking at whatever was left inside it.

"Mommie!" a kid screamed for some reason, sending all four animals scattering into the denser woods.

"Well, it was a nice moment while it lasted," Marie giggled. "So, think we'd decided on this one?" She asked. "Can you guys handle it?"

"Of course," Chance looked at her like she'd lost her mind.

"You're actually questioning his strength?" Jake laughed with a shake of his head and reached into the tree to pull it's tag off. "Yeah, we'll manage fine."

"Well, it _is_ big," Marie said sheepishly Chance grunted and took the tree, bigger than he was in size, against his back. "Let's get it out to the truck then, before you have needles all over in your fur," she grinned and went up to pay for it while the guys secured it to the backof the tow truck the back of the tow truck.

Before long, they were on their way back home, picking up the supplies they would need at the store in Eureka before heading back to the house.

"I'll go get my decorating supplies, you guys want to get the tree set up?" Marie asked as she climbed out of the truck. "Oh, and you'll want to cut off about an inch at the bottom, it'll last longer."

"All right," Jake nodded and went to get a saw while Chance set up the tree holder. By the time Marie returned with boxes of decorations from her home there was sawdust on the floor, an inch of the trunk by the door and the guys were using thin cables to secure the tree to the floor so it would stand straight and not fall over for anything.

"You guys are firm believers in backups, aren't you?" Marie murmured as they sank the last tie-downs and put the needle-mat down.

"That base didn't seem very stable once the tree was in it," Jake shrugged and walked over to take some of the boxes from her. "Will all these go on this tree?"

"Maybe not all of them, but there'll be plenty of room for most of it," she said easily. "A lot of this is packaging. I've got the lights in this last one," she explained, setting it down and opening it up.

"So these go on first?" Jake asked as he helped her unpack many boxes of neatly ordered, tiny lights on a green electric wire.

"Yep, the way I do it anyways," she nodded. "Are we going to need an extension cord?" She asked, getting down to look for an outlet for later.

"Probably," Chance nodded and motioned towards the nearest free plug.

"I've got the transmission plug in the box, if one of you guys can grab it!" She called up, following Chance's gesture to the outlet and holding her hand out for it. Her fingers closed on reflex at pressure on her palm. It was only when she brought her hand forward that she realized it had been tossed to her.

"Showoffs," she teased lightly, plugging in the specialized device that passed for one end of an extension cord in Eureka. "Okay, let's get the lights on now, and then we can plug them in and see how it looks," she said as she stood up. "By the way, will you guys mind having Cindy over for Christmas, if she doesn't have plans already?"

"I don't," Chance grinned.

"Nah, it'll make for a good show," Jake chuckled. "Whether or not they manage to keep their hands off each other."

"Especially if she wants to watch her present," Marie teased. "Neither of you guys has a problem with blinking lights, right?" She asked as they started stringing the tree, weaving the lights over and under the branches on each level, the guys following her lead.

"Haven't seen them before," Jake said truthfully.

"It doesn't sound nice though," Chance answered doubtfully.

"We can set it up for steady, but... hang on, easy way to find out," she said, heading over for the other end of the power transmitter and a small green box that the lights plugged into. The lights turned on, steady as the colors alternated from one bulb to the next.

"If I turn on the box, the lights will start blinking in time with the music," she explained, starting it up, the Christmas carols they were getting used to starting to play, and the lights blinking, creating the illusion that they were moving along the string.

"I can see that if we're dancing, but ..." Chance murmured.

"It won't be bad as long as it's only when the music plays," Jake added, though his expression was as dubious as his partner's.

"It is, and that's as easy as flipping the switch out of position three to turn off," she reassured them, turning it off so they could keep stringing the lights. "Could leave it run while the volume's turned down, but no reason to if it bugs you guys. It's not easy to find those anymore; it's something that's been in the family since I was a kid," she smiled with fond memories.

"I'm sure we can have it on for a while," Jake decided as the three went to work stringing up the rest of her lights until there wasn't a square inch of the tree's outer branches that didn't have a light. Most where white, but there were strings of colors here and there to make a visual mix that broke all the strings up into a mesh of light over the sizeable noble fir.

Marie handed Chance the star to go on top, letting him mount it, then stepped back to look at their work.

"Okay," she grinned. "Now for the other decorations," she told them with a nod towards the boxes. "Think we can pass on the garland, unless you guys want to use it, we covered the tree a bit better than I usually do with the lights."

"Is there any order to the rest of these?" Jake asked as he pulled out several boxes of tissue paper wrapped and packed glass ornaments.

"Some people say there should be, I don't really worry about it myself," Marie said easily. "We want to leave space for three more ornaments though, and the box over there goes on last," she explained, nodding towards the smallest of them. "Another of those family tradition things."

"No problem," Chance nodded and began to hook the small hooks onto tree branches as he was handed them or grabbed a few while the others worked. Even without all the cultural significance most had for the activity, and how little it would normally appeal to him, there was something to be said for doing something with family that made someone he cared about happy and didn't make him miserable. He couldn't say he understood why cutting down a healthy tree, putting it in the living room and then dressing it up like a hooker who won the lottery was at all useful, but Marie was sure enjoying having them help out.

In the end, it turned out that she'd been right about the packaging; there weren't nearly as many ornaments as it had originally looked like to hang up, even though they did leave some down. It was mostly bulbs and similar things they'd see on other trees that were out for display, along with a few older ornaments that had either small nativity scenes inside them or nature scenes. Once they were up, Marie opened up the smaller box, revealing a handful of ornaments that seemed to be more unique.

"My Dad actually barely has any ornaments left that are the 'normal' sort," Marie explained as she hung them up, carefully picking out their locations. "Every year, we used to go pick out or make a personal ornament for each of us, something we really liked. He still has the ones I picked out before I started my grad programs, but I've got my own set I'm starting up here." 

Once they were on the tree, it was easier to see what they were ... a pine cone that was decorated to look like a fluffed-out cat, a wooden nutcracker that had been painted to look almost like a strange sort of bird, a couple others, mostly with animal motifs, though the beaded double-helix was probably the most unusual of them.

"Does this one look familiar?" She asked with a giggle as she hung up the last one, a pair of plastic deer posed in a winter forest, inside a small plastic bulb.

"Yeah, but the DNA strand is _so_ you," Jake grinned and kissed her cheek. "So what's next?"

"That was when I decided to go ahead with making the me you've got now," she purred. "And now, unless you guys have anything you'd like to add, we can make some cocoa and start the fire, after we put the boxes away. We'll go pick out this year's ornaments some time this weekend?"

"Sounds good," Jake nuzzled her neck and slid his arms around her. "By next year, maybe we'll all have a reason to put up a tree."

"Maybe we will," she rumbled, returning the nuzzle and turned around to kiss him lightly. "So, do you have something like Christmas back home?" She asked them as Chance made quick work of stowing the boxes and they snuggled up on the couch for a bit of a rest.

"In a very distant way," Jake nodded and happily snuggled between his mate and his lover when Chance joined them and clicked the fireplace to life with a remote. "There is a winter solstice calibration for the beginning of the new year and more light. There were feasts, decorations, sometimes gifts. Everyone gave thanks to Bastet and others for surviving the worst of the cold times and asking for help to survive the rest. A lot of kittens were sired about then in older times. Those devout to Bastet frequently do something during the solstice week, but it is uncommon outside the temples and a few homes these days."

"Mmm ... you guys want to do something for it, or weren't you into it that much?" Marie asked as she pressed up against Jake lightly, the lights on the tree shining steadily and mixing with the flicker of the gas fireplace to make a warm glow in the living room.

"I can't say I even knew of it," Chance admitted.

"Giving thanks ... I've always done privately," Jake said softly. "It sounds like a lot of Christmas traditions fit in well. Especially the big meal with family and friends."

"Yeah, what's your father doing?" Chance asked.

"I'll have to ask, but I'm thinking that if it's okay with you guys, we might have him over instead of the other way around, at least for a while. It'd just mean that you and Cindy have to behave for a bit longer," Marie teased Chance lightly.

"I would think at least dinner should be fine," Jake said. "And some of the gift-opening."

"That'd be great," she smiled, snuggling up against him. "Could wait for another day, but it'd be nice to have him over."

"We may not celebrate many days, but the importance of family has made it through on this one despite the commercialization of it," Jake smiled at her. "We made it through a dinner with you in heat. I think we can manage this."

"Mmm ... good," she purred, standing up. "I'll go get the water started, be back soon," she explained as she headed out to the kitchen.

* * *

Jake was just booting up his computer the next morning when his IM window popped up, almost the instant that he'd gotten signed into it.

>   
> stingai: Hello, RazorKat. Been a while. :)
> 
> RazorKat: Been busy. How are things for you?
> 
> stingai: Strange. Father hasn't been back yet. :( Nobody else really wants to talk either. When I try to say hello, they go offline.
> 
> RazorKat: A lot of folks around here are nervous about folks they don't know in person.
> 
> stingai: I guess. Makes it hard to find out about things though. Trying to figure out what all the trouble was earlier in the week, but nobody's wanted to talk about it.
> 
> RazorKat: A lot of glitches happened all at once. Some critters got loose, vids went where they shouldn't have, that kind of thing. Annoyed the hell out of the Sheriff and Stark.
> 
> stingai: Stark's scary. O_o I know I don't want to annoy him. Did anybody get hurt?
> 
> RazorKat. Stark's not too bad, but I have to agree with you. No one got hurt that I heard of, but I don't know everything about what happened. I just helped clean up the mess. Where were you when it happened?
> 
> stingai: Trying to find somebody to talk to. I didn't really notice much happening besides what usually does. Then the power went out. o_o Had to restore a bunch of stuff from backups after that.
> 
> RazorKat: Yeah, that was a headache and a half. I got lucky. I wasn't doing anything very computer-related at the time, so I just had to double-check everything when it came back on line. Bunch of stuff didn't reboot quite right.
> 
> stingai: Ugh, I hate it when that happens. It can take forever to straighten yourself out. :( Hope you didn't lose anything?
> 
> RazorKat: A couple saved games, nothing important.
> 
> stingai: That's good. :) BTW, hope your mate didn't mind us talking last time.
> 
> RazorKat: No, he just wanted his turn for attention :)
> 
> stingai: What's he like? :)
> 
> RazorKat: A buff, hotshot pilot with a heart of gold. We've been together for a long time.
> 
> stingai: You're not from Eureka then? You haven't been around here that long, so....
> 
> RazorKat: No, not from Eureka.
> 
> stingai: Oh, okay... so where _are_ you from?
> 
> RazorKat: Quite far away.
> 
> stingai: Can't say anything else about it? :( I can keep a secret. :)
> 
> RazorKat: Maybe, but computers aren't secure.
> 
> stingai: Sure I am. Firewalls, full AV, and I know not to go poking around places I can pick up spyware.
> 
> RazorKat: Impressive. I'm not so confident. Want to meet somewhere we can talk more openly?
> 
> stingai: Like where?
> 
> RazorKat: how about my place?
> 
> stingai: When? :)
> 
> RazorKat: Tomorrow morning, about now?
> 
> stingai: Sounds good. :) I'll see you then, maybe meet your mate too.
> 
> RazorKat: Maybe, but he hates getting up so early. See you then.
> 
> stingai: See you then.  
> 

Jake signed off, just as Marie stepped up behind him.

"You sneaking around with somebody online?" She asked teasingly, licking his ear lightly.

"Hardly," he paused and turned his head to kiss her. "Somebody's either very odd, or trying a little too hard at social engineering. They'll try to come by tomorrow morning."

"Mmm ... in Eureka, bet on very odd," she giggled, kissing him back. "Chance is still asleep ... anything in particular you'd like to do while we've got the chance?" She purred.

"Snuggle by the fire, with less on?" he suggested with a deep purr as he stood and slid his arms around her.

"Not much to take off yet," she teased, kissing him and purring happily even as Jake activated the fire by remote. "But it sounds good to me," she added, undoing his belt while he slid her robe from her shoulders. She moaned softly when he began to nibble down her neck as he guided her to the faux fur rug laid out in front of the fire.

She undid his pants, nibbling the edge of one of his ears as she relaxed on the floor, running her fingers through his fur.

"You're something else," she murmured as he nibbled her collarbone and pressed up against him.

"So are you," Jake said as he breathed deeply of her scent and the light musk of their early arousal. He lowered his head to lick her breasts slowly while his hands caressed her flat belly, playing with her fur.

"Mmm ... maybe, but around here, you're a bit more unique," she purred, scratching the back of his neck lightly, watching the way the firelight played across his cinnamon fur. "Never thought I'd meet somebody like you."

Jake nodded and kissed her gently as he slipped his fingers between her legs. "But you ... you've given me something I never thought possible. Enjoying a female isn't something I ever thought I would do."

"Ooh... I'm glad you do though," she grinned down at him, spreading her legs to give him better access to her. The heat of the fire and the heat of his body washed over her as he indulged in his love of touch and taste.

Marie whimpered and stroked his hair and ears as he settled between her legs. He slowly slid his tongue across the engorged flesh his fingers had encouraged to their full swell.

She moaned deeply, squeezing one of her breasts as Jake lapped up her juices. She wrapped one leg around him lightly, rubbing the spot above his tail with her heel as he ate her out. She felt her juices flow from her body, some to be soaked into Jake's fur, some to dribble down her ass to the soft faux fur under her.

"Oh, Jake," she cried out, the pleasure he was inflicting slowly spiraling out of control through her body.

She nearly cried out in objection when his tongue disappeared, only to moan mindlessly as he thrust into her with a single, powerful stroke.

She pulled him close, kissing him hungrily, tasting her juices on his breath as she milked his cock. She raked her claws down his back, shuddering as his rubbery barbs worked the inside of her sex.

"Oh _yes_ ," Jake cried out and arched sharply, pushing into her claws as he put even more strength into each thrust, eager to get them both off.

"Fuck yes," Marie moaned, pressing up into him. She cried out again, sharply, as her body started to spasm around his cock, working him hungrily as she came hard. She knew, distantly, that she was drawing blood when her claws extended out of her control, and that the depth of his roar as he filled her with his seed was because of it.

Once his stilled, she gingerly pulled her claws out of his back, licking them clean before kissing him tenderly.

"Mmm ... lucky for me that doesn't bother you," she purred lazily.

"Lucky for me you don't mind either," Jake shuddered and began to thrust into her again with a gentle kiss. "Love you, Marie."

"Love you too, Jake," she moaned happily.

"And I'd love both of you a lot more if you'd just keep it down for another hour or so," Chance groused from the door of the living room, leaning against it with the sleepy glare he usually reserved for people who woke him up in the middle of the night without something being on fire.

"Don't want to join in?" Jake looked at him with an unabashed lust.

"You know, there was a time I'd have just about died to see you like this, but right now you are just too damn noisy," Chance grumbled.

"Mmm... we'll try to quiet down," Marie promised, biting Jake's shoulder lightly.

It drew a crying moan from him that made her words questionable.

"Good... I'll be back in an hour or two," Chance muttered, turning around and heading back to bed.

"Snuggle, or gags?" Jake asked, trembling in erotic pain.

"Mmm ... gags, if you've got enough to go around," Marie grinned up at him.

"I have enough," he reluctantly pulled out of her and stood to get the strips of cloth while she waited for him.

* * *

"What the hell is up with this thing?" Chance asked irritably as he tried to microwave the pizza that was left over from the night before. "Keeps cutting -" There was a loud 'fzzt' as the microwave sparked and went dead.

"Okay... I think I'll just have breakfast cold," the tabby decided. "Isn't your friend supposed to be over soon?"

"Two hours ago, actually," Jake grumbled as he worked to get the Wii and TV to start talking to each other again.

"I think it's safe to assume he's not gonna show," Chance grumbled. "At least it doesn't look like everybody's got the crazy stuff going on here."

"I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing," Jake shook his head. "I think I'll head out to the lake and grab a swim. Nothing's going on that would keep him away this long."

"Want me to call your cell if he turns up?" Chance asked around a bite of pizza.

"Sure, though I won't have it with me once I'm underwater," Jake said before heading to the bathroom for the swimming gear. "I'll be back in a while."

"Try to make it before dinner, okay?" Chance said with a tolerant grumble.

"You guys could always come with me," Jake teased.

"Are you kidding? We'd never get back," Chance smirked. "Have a good time, okay? Gimme a call if something goes screwy with your bike."

"Will do," Jake promised and walked out of the house with his swimming tote over his shoulder, looking forward to spending a couple hours in the water despite the cold. It was the one time he really didn't care. It just felt too good to be free in the open water with nothing but himself there. His mates were fun to have along, the sex was astounding, but it was sometimes even better when they weren't along.

Like this, he could just go swim around and explore ... see if he could find some fish, or play with any otters that swam by. It wasn't often, but once in a while he got the chance.

The drive didn't take him too long, and he quickly was stripped down, sitting at the edge of the lake as he put the collar and breather on. He slipped into the water and was beneath it in an instant; it might not have been as good as being part fish, but it was still better than anything he'd had before.

That first breath was still frightening, his instincts screaming against it, but once it came in as air, everything settled and he could focus on the freedom of the water. The light of the upper water faded and strengthened as he dove and surfaced, twisted and leapt.

He laughed a mouthful of water and pushed it out with his tongue. Even as he felt the cold sink to his skin, he felt himself let go of care, fear, frustration ... everything but the raw, elemental joy of movement and freedom.

He caught a glimmer of silver as a trout swam by, twisting to swim away from him and through a beam of light that passed between some lilypads on the surface. Some of the plants near the bottom brushed against Jake's nude body, sticking lightly to his fur.

The fish were always so beautiful down here, when they were so ugly above the water. Here, they didn't look like they were good only to eat. Here, they were like powerful birds darting through the water, and here, Jake was nearly one of them.

He let his mind drift, giddy with the joy of absolute freedom. It was only a little niggling in the back of his mind that something wasn't quite right, but he couldn't think of what it was. There were too many distractions that were far more interesting.

He spotted some motion near the inlet to the lake, and identified it as an otter swimming down to look for freshwater clams. For a brief moment, the idea crossed his mind that if he wanted to, he could probably find a few to take home for dinner ... that could've been interesting, fresh chowder.

He soon lost track of the idea as the movement brought to mind the seductive memories of sex down here and he let himself float midway down the lake. He began to stroke himself, the familiar activity only heightening his sense of something being wrong, but he couldn't place it.

He masturbated happily, ignoring the feeling as he felt a pleasant buzz filling his body. After several minutes, he moaned, a large bubble of air erupting towards the surface as his balls pulled close, spraying his seed into the water to drift off.

It the naturally hazy moments afterwards his brain finally tracked down just what felt wrong, and his eyes shot open wide even as he kicked up hard, swimming for the surface as quickly as he could manage. Still fifty feet down, he knew he wasn't going to make it. Too far to go, too much oxygen; he'd be unconscious with distance still to go.

He ripped the device from his nose and held his breath as momentum and buoyancy propelled him towards the surface even as his awareness of it faded into blackness.

* * *

Meanwhile, back in town, Chance was getting lunch at the Cafe Diem to take back home when Sheriff Carter came in.

"Hey, Sheriff," he said, his tone friendly. "Got a few minutes?"

"Of course," he nodded to the human-looking Kat. "What's up?"

"I was hoping you'd be willing to talk about Zoe a bit," Chance admitted. "If you don't mind?"

"No," Carter scowled. "What did she do this time?"

"Nothing," Chance said quickly, mentally scolding himself for not realizing what it might sound like. "She didn't do anything, it's not talking about her like that."

That pretty clearly surprised the sheriff, but he relaxed and gave Chance his full attention. "Let me order, and we can sit down?"

"Sure, I just figured you'd already called it in," Chance said easily, heading over to one of the tables to wait for Carter to join him. It didn't take long.

"Okay, so what is it?" Carter asked as he sat down with a cup of coffee in one hand.

"Well... she's your daughter, and it's not my place to say how you bring her up, but it's already been more than a month since that bit with the club. She screwed up, yeah, but... it seems like it's a pretty harsh time of year to have her under house arrest, for what happened."

"I'm going to have at least _one_ major holiday without her in trouble," he said firmly. 

"There was Thanksgiving," Chance pointed out, "and just because she's not stuck in the house doesn't mean she's going to be in trouble. There's a lot of stuff going on this time of year, it just doesn't seem fair that she has to miss all of it, have her sixteenth birthday party put off until she's almost closer to seventeen, and generally be miserable for the rest of the year for something that was probably as much my fault as hers. Would it really be that chancy to just let her go to a couple of the Christmas parties, maybe with somebody to keep an eye on her? The public ones," he added. "Though I don't _think_ the Heat Wave has one."

"It does," he said grimily, though his expression wasn't quite as sever. "You're volunteering, I take it?"

"If you'd still trust me after Halloween, sure," Chance agreed easily. "You've got a good kid, Sheriff ... she just isn't really cut out for following rules yet. I know what that was like," Chance chuckled slightly.

"You still don't," Carter pointed out with a shake of his head. "That doesn't give me much hope for her, you know."

"I follow the big ones," Chance pointed out. "And she does too, really ... at least as far as I know. One of these days, she'll shape up a bit. She's just ... still a kid, in a lot of ways. Just not always the ways a good Dad would want her to be," he admitted. "Really, sometimes she's just looking for your attention."

"She could find better ways to do that," Carter scowled.

"But not more effective ones," Chance said. "Watch how fast you are to praise her in comparison to how fast you are to condemn her. Sometimes negative attention is better than no attention."

"Now you're starting to sound like Beverly," Carter grumbled. "I'll think about the Christmas party though."

"'Cause for once, she's right," Chance shook his head. "And thanks. I'll keep her safe."

"I'm planning on spending that night with Zoe, and not heading out for anything short of a major felony," Carter chuckled slightly. "Same as the opening night of her play, for once."

"I think she'll appreciate that," Chance smiled. The expression lasted less than a heartbeat, ended by a silent buzzer in his pocket. "Ah, crud!" he hissed and all but bolted from the table, the food bag forgotten. Chance was out the door and headed for his cyclotron fast.

"What th-" Carter was right behind him, running for his SUV.

Even if he knew he wasn't about to stop Chance from tearing off like a maniac, he was sure that he'd probably be needed for whatever the Hell was up. The list of things that could make the kat react like that was very short and all serious.

Carter just prayed it didn't involve Zoe, whatever it was, and pulled out to follow the Cyclotron's tracks and try to raise Chance on the radio.

"Emergency signal from Jake," Chance said briefly over the radio when he had the chance. "Don't know what, just that he's out by the lake."

"I'm behind you," Carter answered, even as he clicked to another frequency and called Jo.

"Jo here, over."

"You might want to head to the lake. Something's got Clawson in a bad enough position to call for help and not make verbal contact," he explained. "Over."

"On my way," Jo said, the background sounds suggesting she was already on her way up to her car. "Dr. Wilson's still tracking as being in her home, over," she offered.

"At least there's that small miracle," Carter muttered as he raced through the streets towards the lake. "Over and out."

As he drove, he found himself wondering if he should start something up for frequent customers. Those kats were at the heart of more _real_ problems than anybody else in town. Even when they weren't at fault they had a serious habit of being in the middle of it.

A few minutes later, Chance twisted the cyclotron to a stop near the lake, looking around for Jake as his tail lashed behind him.

It didn't take him long, the transmitter had him within a few yards, and his heart nearly stopped at the limp, nude body of his partner. One hand was curled closed to activate the transmitter on his wrist, his breathing device dangled loose from the swimming collar and the cold, dark water still lapped at his legs.

"Shit," Chance swore, rushing over to Jake and checking his breathing and let out a breath of relief when he found a shallow, raspy breath and still-strong pulse. "Don't you dare check out on me," he hissed at the unconscious Kat, trying to see what was wrong with him as he heard the sirens approaching behind him.

He picked Jake up and straddled his Cyclotron, careful to keep his partner against his chest as he took off.

"Headed for the hospital," Chance broadcast on the radio, then forgot all about the law enforcement and the law as he rushed Jake to the place they'd already seen _far_ too much of.

On the plus side, if you could call it that, it meant that he knew how to get there fast. The cyclotron couldn't beat the TurboKat, but it still made good time. He was greeted at the emergency room entrance by a half-dozen medical personnel that managed to get Jake out of his arms and onto a stretcher with minimal fuss.

"What can you tell me?" A dark skinned black man asked Chance as everyone rushed inside.

"Damned little," Chance admitted. "Found him on the side of the lake, he wasn't wearing his breather anymore."

"The bracelet, a transmitter?" Someone working on Jake asked as they took the pause in the elevator to draw blood. "He's got quite a grip on it."

"His lungs are mostly clear," someone else said.

"It is, better to let him hang onto it for now," Chance nodded. "It's how he called me ... is he gonna be okay?"

"O2 levels are through the roof," one of the nurses said, inspecting the blood sample.

"He should be," someone reassured him with a fair amount of confidence as he adjusted the gas mixture flowing into Jake's face mask. "Oxygen poisoning is rare, but relatively easy to counter when found this early. He may never be able to use a rebreather again though." He said as the group left the elevator. 

"Why not?" Chance asked with a frowned as he followed them. Jake wasn't going to like this.

"There's a good chance that pure oxygen, after this, could put him into convulsions," the nurse explained. "We'll explain it better later. For now though, he should be okay."

"All right," Chance agreed reluctantly to stay out of the emergency room itself.

Shortly afterwards, Sheriff Carter came up the second elevator with Jo.

"What happened?" He asked.

"Oxygen poisoning," Chance said, still trying to wrap his brain around the idea. "He's unconscious, wasn't wearing his breather when I found him. It's all I know right now."

"Rebreather, or does it do regular air?" Jo asked him.

"Regular air," Chance explained.

"Computer probably screwed something up," Jo murmured. "Started producing more oxygen than it should have ... not common, but it happens even with the full-size units like that."

"We'll have it to find out when they're done with him," Chance looked at the double doors his partner had disappeared behind. "We spend _way_ too much time here."

"I'll give you that one... at the moment, it doesn't look like anything criminal happened. You want me to get his breather over to GD to be looked at though?" Carter offered.

"Thanks," Chance nodded. "Dr. Green created them."

"I'll make sure he gets it then," Carter nodded. "Jo, you want to wait here, or go hold down the fort until we've got word about Jake?"

"I'll head back to town, if you don't need me here," she decided quickly and left before he even agreed to it.

"I'll get us some coffee," Carter told Chance. "Meet you over in the waiting area over there?" He suggested, nodding towards the nearby chairs and couches.

"All right," Chance nodded and walked over to sit down, and think.

* * *

The next night, Marie came home bearing a slightly larger than usual order from the Cafe Diem in celebration of Jake's quick release from the hospital.

"I bring food that doesn't taste like hospital!" She called out cheerfully, closing the door behind her before she sat down the bags. "You guys _are_ here, right?"

"Yes!" Jake called as he half turned around to look at her over the back of the couch. "We're even still dressed."

"You must've been hurt worse than I thought," she teased lightly, pulling out a box from the bag. "You _are_ okay, right?" She asked more seriously as she handed him his dinner.

"Yes," he nodded and rather reluctantly got off the couch, to be followed by Chance. "We _do_ sometimes like to just snuggle," he smiled and walked over to give her a gentle kiss. "It's nothing like last time."

"I know," she murmured, kissing him back. "I just worry whenever I hear that you're in the hospital ... probably just as well I didn't know you during the SWAT Kat days," she chuckled slightly.

"Very, very few hospital stays back then," he chuckled. "Though you may have seen fit to change that."

"You can bet I would have," she huffed, giving him a quick kiss. "Any better idea what happened yet?"

"Not beyond what I was sure of just before I blacked out," Jake shook his head and relaxed into Chance's embrace as the tabby came up behind him and nuzzled him. "The breather malfunctioned. How or why, we haven't heard back yet."

"Well, you're not gonna like it, but we're not letting you take one of those out again until we know what went wrong," she told him firmly as they sat down to eat.

"And they've all been double-checked," he nodded.

"We already had that conversation," Chance added and quite happily served himself several steaming crab cakes from the collection of food Vincent had sent home with Marie.

"Well, I wasn't here for it, so I didn't know," she chuckled slightly. "Different topic?"

"Who's cooking Christmas dinner?" Jake suggested.

"That one, Cindy's coming over to help with," Marie grinned. "With some help from Vincent at getting the _really_ tricky stuff taken care of. Takeout from the cafe that will spend the week leading up to Christmas in the freezer ... you guys might want to call and ask somebody who's down there how bad it is around the place leading up to Christmas, just a head's up. The annual lutefisk pickling is... interesting."

"Pickled fish?" Chance cocked his head.

"No, herring is pickled fish. Lutefisk is about one step shy of weaponizing it. Just to put things in perspective, they pickle the stuff in lye... there's a song out there that's just about legendary in describing it."

"This I have to hear," Jake leaned forward, fascinated by the idea that anyone would do something that vile to food intentionally, and then eat it.

"I don't _know_ the song," Marie laughed as she served herself some lasagna. "Let alone sing it. It's a traditional food from Norway, though it's not so common there as among folks of Norwegian descent in the States. It's kinda tricky to make though, so Vincent always tries to keep some handy this time of year ... it actually takes about two weeks to pickle properly, but only two days of that is in lye."

"Weird," Jake shook his head a bit. "Is it tasty?"

"Some people think it is, but ... well, you have to get past the smell first, if nothing else. I've heard that there a guy out there who'll eat anything up to bugs and earthworms, but he can't make himself eat lutefisk ... but _somebody_ has to think it's worth eating, as popular as it is some places," Marie said with a shrug.

"Culture can make that happen," Jake chuckled. "Even if you think it's horrid, you still eat it and appreciate it for what it means."

"Very true," Marie chuckled. "Just count me out if you guys decide to try some," she added with a bit of a smirk, eating one of the crab puffs. "Cindy and I will be putting together plenty to eat without jellied, pickled, sense-rending fish being on the menu."

"I think I'll pass," Chance decided. "If I guy who'll eat _worms_ won't eat it, I don't think I'll be missing much."

"Thank you," she giggled. "So, are we still planning on watching your next date with Cindy?"

"Oh yeah," Chance grinned widely. "That's going to be _fun_ . Is there anything I should coax her into?"

"For her, a bit of everything she usually likes," Marie grinned back. "For our cameraman... well, Jake? Anything you want to see Chance do to her?" She asked him with a deep purr that made him shiver.

"Make her beg to be taken," he answered after a bit of hesitation.

"And?" Chance prodded, knowing Jake was holding back for some reason.

"That harem dance she did early on," he flushed under his fur.

"Just remember, you'll have to keep her somewhere we've got windows to the outside handy," Marie giggled. "When _is_ your date lined up?"

"In a couple hours," he grinned. "I'll make sure you have a good view."

"And will you want me along to watch with you?" Marie asked Jake with a playful purr.

"Oh yeah," he grinned, leaning forward. "And for the post-show relief."

"Mmm ... I'll just try to stay off the vid, for the most part," Marie giggled. "But it sounds like fun to me."

"Or at least the part we give to Cindy," he licked his lips. "No reason we can't make a really nice recording for ourselves too."

"Of course," Marie purred. "Just want to make sure you've got plenty of attention on the main show at first," she grinned, munching on some more of their take-out before there was a light knock on the door.

"I'll get it," Chance offered and stood to walk to the front door.

"Oh there will be," Jake promised. "I _do_ enjoy watching, after all."

"Well, let's wait until company's gone to keep talking about this," Marie snickered. "Who is it, Chance?" She asked as he opened the door.

"Sheriff Carter," Chance called back. "Something wrong, Sheriff?" He asked politely.

"That depends on what you're hoping to hear," he answered. "May I come in?"

"Sure, we were just working on dinner," Chance said easily, stepping back to let him in. "You found something out about the breather?" He asked hopefully.

Carter waited for the door to close behind him before nodding. "It was unquestionably sabotage. The settings that were changed are not something that a user can easily access. Not impossible, but it takes definite effort. What's more, the circuits that controlled those settings had been switched with one that broke when it hit the bottom; that's why it didn't do this before. Hard to figure out when exactly the change was made though, since it was sort of like a pressure switch."

"How deep before it was triggered?" Jake asked.

"Fifty feet," Carter said.

"The depth of the lake," Jake nodded. "When I touched bottom, it switched. If I'd been out to sea, the more likely timing, I'd be dead, and probably never found."

"I'm going to kill her," Marie murmured.

"Watch it," Chance warned her, nodding towards the Sheriff. "Besides ... I'm guessing there's no proof that Melody did this, at least not yet?"

"No, but if what you've told me about her other unproven activities is true, she's one of very few with both means and opportunity," Carter admitted. "The hard part is going to be proving that her tracker isn't working right."

"Think Cindy could rig something to record _everything_ in the house that moves?" Jake half-asked. "Whatever she's doing, it's probably not becoming invisible and incorporeal."

"In _your_ house, or hers?" Carter asked Jake. "Yours, as far as I know, all you'd have to do is ask her and she can do it. Your place, your rights. Hers, I'd need a warrant."

"Or for Stark to clear it," Marie pointed out.

"I'd prefer the warrant," Carter pointed out. "But yes, Stark could clear it. I just doubt that he would without the same sort of information I'd need for a warrant."

"This one," Jake rolled his eyes at them both. "Footage of her here is proof of a crime, even if she doesn't do anything."

"That you'd just have to ask Dr. Orwell for. If you guys approve it, she ought to be willing to tape everything here," Carter said.

"I'll ask her tonight," Chance promised. "It's a good idea, and it's not like she doesn't get most of the interesting footage from here anyway."

"I _really_ don't want to know," Carter said, shaking his head. "Well, unless you guys have any more questions, I should be getting home."

"Go home," Chance smiled at him. "Thanks for dropping by, sheriff," he extended a hand to him. "We appreciate being kept up to date."

"No problem," Carter said, shaking Chance's hand. "I'll let you know if anything else comes up ... and let _me_ know if you guys get anything about it."

"We will," Jake promised. "Honestly, I just hope this gets sorted out before anybody gets _badly_ hurt."

"Pretty late for that," Marie pointed out.

"I wasn't _that_ badly injured," Jake countered quietly as Carter escaped to the relative sanity of his home.

"Jake, she could've killed you twice, if she did this, that's too close for _my_ comfort," Marie said softly, giving Jake a gentle kiss. "Better topic ... are you guys getting anything for the Carters for Christmas? We kinda spend a fair amount of time dealing with them," she chuckled slightly.

"Yeah, we helped Zoe get a 1981 World Series bat for her dad," Chance grinned. "Something about he wrecked his original one trying to save her. Picked up a Wii, some games and a model of her 16th birthday gift for her."

"That oughta do the trick," Marie giggled. "I've managed to get most of my shopping done, at least to the ordering point. Just have to keep Chien from inspecting my packages too carefully for the next few weeks. Last thing I need is for him to rip open Dad's gift. Did you guys plan on getting anything for Cindy? Doubt she'd expect it, just curious."

"Mine's going to have to stay a surprise," Jake grinned as they sat back down to dinner. "Since she'll open it here. Cathy's getting earrings."

"Yeah, she's a huge Alton Brown fan," Chance snickered, still far too amused by the fact for his own good. "So I picked up his DVDs for her. All of them."

"Hey, remember, her being an Alton Brown fan is part of what means that dinner isn't going to be entirely catered," Marie smirked. "Or a repeat of Thanksgiving. Are you getting anything for your other lady friends, or did your paychecks run out before you finished the list?" She teased Chance before digging into the corn on the cob.

"Very funny," Chance grumbled playfully and finished the catnip infused beer that Vincent concocted for them to try. "Tonya's getting a ticket for the rollercoaster ride of a lifetime."

"Well, it's not like me, Cindy, and Tonya are the only girls you've been with," she giggled.

"Yeah, but if the tabby got presents for _everybody_ he slept with, he'd go bankrupt," Jake teased. "It takes more than a one-night stand to count."

"Duly noted," Marie grinned.

"And the list that _I_ ask out on a _date_ is really pretty short," Chance added. "Picking somebody up at the club or bar doesn't count."

"You did get something for Marie, didn't you?" Jake teased him with a raised eyebrow. "I don't think you've asked her out yet."

"Of course I've gotten something," Chance said, rolling his eyes. "I'm just not gonna say what it is while she's in the house!" He teased.

"Just checking," Jake snickered. "Are we ready to make Cindy's gift?"

"I think so," Marie grinned, finishing her milkshake. "We're not going to get there too soon?"

"No way," Chance laughed easily. "She loves to see this tabby."

"You go on ahead then, we'll go in my car," Marie purred, getting up to clean up the remains of supper before they left.

"Don't take long," Chance grinned at her. "We get to the action pretty fast."

"We won't," she grinned back and watched him leave. She made quick work of the cleanup while Jake got and double-checked his recording gear.

"So, ready to go?" She asked him a couple minutes later, coat on and keys to the car at the ready.

"Yes," he nodded and slung the small tote over his shoulder, following her outside to her car.

"Mmm ... think you'll be able to keep from jumping me long enough to put on a bit of a solo-show for her?" Marie asked as they climbed in the car and pulled out.

"Probably," he cocked his head at her and leaned close. "Though it's much more fun with my muzzle in your pussy."

"Mmm... I, at least, am game for making that round two, if you can wait that long," Marie purred deeply. "By that time, those two won't be in any condition to hear us," she grinned.

"If they are after five minutes, he's losing his touch," he laughed easily. "He's met his match in her."

"Tell me about it," Marie smiled. "That doesn't bother you, right?"

"Why should it?" Jake looked at her, uncertain whether he had missed something or she was trying to apply human logic to him again.

"I don't know if it should or not," she admitted with a slight shrug. "Just ... like he kinda said earlier, Chance doesn't usually do much in the way of relationships with people. Not like I think Cindy's even remotely serious about him, they've got more of a relationship than most of the people I've heard about him dating, this world _or_ on Aristal, had with him."

"Yeah, but she's a girl," Jake tried to explain it; even knowing he was doing a lousy job.

"So ... even if it would start getting serious, she's not competition?" she asked, flicking her ears curiously behind the 'protection' of her hologram.

"No more than you are to him," he nodded.

"Fair enough," she mused. "Not that I think it really _is_ going to get serious; they both enjoy playing around too much. More likely for something to happen with Zoe first," she half-laughed.

"If she's stays serious about him, I wouldn't be surprised," Jake shook his head. "Though I think he'd rather think of her as a baby sister than lover."

"I imagine," Marie nodded. "She's _much_ younger than he is ... hope she doesn't hold what we talked about at the Halloween party against me," she mused and found an unobtrusive parking spot near Cindy's house.

"In years, yeah, but not so much in age," Jake smiled fondly for his mate. "He's very much a big kitten still."

"Very true... so, shall we go see how your big kitten is doing at seducing my best friend?" Marie asked, then blinked. "Okay... that just _didn't_ sound right. Oh well."

"'Seduction' is the out of place word," Jake laughed and got out of the car. "Those two don't really bother with it anymore, if they ever did."

"Point," Marie giggled, following him to the cover of the bushes near Cindy's front windows where. She peaked in the window while he set up the tripod and camcorder.

"Okay, scoot over," Jake nudged her so he could place the camcorder where he wanted it, and focused on the eyepiece for a while to see what was being captured.

Inside, Cindy was just coming out of her playroom, wearing the harem outfit that Jake had liked so much from their early dates. She gave Chance a lingering kiss before moving back to start her dance.

"Oh, yeah," Jake grinned with a sound deep in his chest as she began to undulate and sway for Chance's viewing pleasure.

As she danced, she started to strip slowly, working her silks off as Chance watched her approvingly. The tabby started to lightly stroke his cock through his pants. 

It was a movement that Jake soon mimicked as his attention kept being drawn to the potent masculinity of his mate despite the incredible show Cindy was giving.

Before she'd stripped fully, she sank to her knees in front of Chance, undoing the tabby's pants and rubbing her bare, smooth cheek against his barbed shaft before she started licking at the sensitive length.

Jake moaned and shuddered, unwilling to unzip his pants in the cold air, but intensely excited all the same. The way Chance moved and moaned as she rubbed against him was nearly enough to make him whimper.

At the rate she was going, she was going to make him come in his shorts before they really got going.

Cindy took Chance's cock into her mouth, her hair brushing down to obscure her face and his shaft as she sucked his thick, throbbing maleness. The tabby reached down, running his fingers through her hair, exposing her face again before gripping her head and starting to thrust up into her mouth.

"So hot," Jake murmured, watching as Chance used the very willing blond to best effect for his own pleasure. He couldn't help but flash to a fantasy of Callie being there between Chance's legs and it only got hotter.

Before long, Chance roared, pumping his seed into Cindy's hungry mouth. She swallowed almost every drop before pulling back, licking her lips clean and letting Chance pull her up for a hot, hungry, possessive kiss, his tongue roughly lapping at the inside of her mouth. He slid his fingers between her legs, playing with her sex until she was trembling.

Chance said something and Cindy nodded, backing away before she began to dance while she masturbated with her silken blue scarf.

She pleasured herself while Chance stripped down, his shaft still hard as a rock between his legs. He picked up one of the discarded scarves, doubling it up so it would be a good blindfold when the time came.

Jake shivered in anticipation until she screamed and fell to her knees, the scarf pulled tight against her sex as she twitched and shuddered through her pleasure.

Chance moved around behind her, tying the scarf around her eyes as he leaned down to tell her something. She nodded slightly, standing up, her legs wobbling a little as she raised her hands obediently above her head, turning towards the window, unable to see the kat filming her thanks to the blindfold.

Chance finished tying her up, using the scarf she'd just been masturbating with as a gag as he started rubbing against her body, stroking her sex, coaxing her to higher and higher levels of arousal until she had to hook her bound wrists behind his head to keep herself upright.

He whispered in her ear, licking her neck, until she cried out in desperation through the gag.

Chance grinned and ran his hands up her body to fondle her breasts, his tail teasing her sex, as he hooked her wrist binding to an unobtrusive hook in the ceiling by a second length of cloth. Then he walked over to the door and opened it as quietly as he could to let Jake and Marie in.

"Think you can stay silent?" he asked her.

Marie nodded, curious what was in mind, but not about to talk just yet as Chance led them in and closed the door quietly.

"'ld?" Cindy asked through the gag, shivering slightly.

"Just after a bit of fresh air," Chance rumbled deeply, running his hands down her sides while Jake set up the tripod to record more clearly and find a place in the frame to watch from.

Eventually, he picked the couch that Chance had been watching from when they'd started, watching as his mate licked and nibbled at Cindy's breasts, teasing her for a bit more before he straightened out and drove himself deep into her sex with a lusty groan.

Jake unzipped his pants and lightly stroked himself as he watched his mate at his best. Each thrust made her breasts bounce and muted sounds of pleasure still escaped her mouth.

The smell of arousal built, filling the room, male and female alike... even Marie was getting turned on as all Hell, though she was staying out of the camera's view. Chance kneaded Cindy's firm, round ass, squeezing her cheeks as he fucked her hard and deep, kissing and nipping at her neck as his balls churned.

"Beg me to fill you up," he rumbled to his bound lover.

"'A! Essss!" She willingly begged through the gag, unashamed by the admission.

Chance roared, hilting inside of her and spraying his seed up deep into her dripping sex.

It was enough, along with the intoxicating scents and Jake's own display, to bring Marie to her knees in front of her boyfriend. In silence, she entwined their fingers together and kissed him before taking his cock into her mouth.

Chance looked over at them with a grin, pulling out of Cindy's body and moving around behind her, nipping her neck lightly and fingering her ass, starting to stretch her out.

"Too bad I can't be in too places at once, isn't it?" He asked her with a playful grin for his mate, who was silently savoring the blowjob Marie was giving him, bobbing her feline head up and down his length while she fingered herself.

Cindy could only nod, soft whimpers escaping from the gag, her legs wet with Chance seed and her own juices, and her body trembling.

"Well, maybe I can be, or something close," Chance purred. "Would you like that?"

She nodded, moaning deeply as she pressed back into his fingers, squeezing her ass around his fingers.

"Good," he purred in her ear and winked at Jake to come join him.

Jake grinned, giving Marie an apologetic kiss before he headed over to join Chance. The two toms drove their shafts deep into Cindy's body, drawing an ecstatic scream of pleasure from the human woman as they settled in to enjoying each other until they ran out of camera space.

* * *

Jake rolled his shoulders back and glanced at the impressive collection of gaudily wrapped gifts under their even more gaudily decorated tree before turning his attention to his computer and seeing what of interest had come in. Just a few minutes after he'd logged in, he saw the notification that 'stingai' had done the same.

On a level he couldn't be surprised, but at the same time it made him uneasy too. Too many times, too much coincidence, and too much secrecy; it wasn't good.

Of course, he could hardly know who else he might be chatting with. It took a few moments, this time, before he IM'ed Jake, at any rate.

>   
> stingai: What happened?
> 
> RazorKat: When?
> 
> stingai: Last week, when we were supposed to meet. Thought I was at your place, but you never came to let me in.
> 
> RazorKat: No one ever knocked. I waited two hours, and Chance was here until lunch time.
> 
> stingai: Must've been the wrong place. :( I tried knocking, even tried calling for somebody, but nobody answered.
> 
> RazorKat: Why don't I pick you up next time? 
> 
> stingai: Okay... gonna be a while though. Have to make sure Father's okay. Still haven't heard from him. :(
> 
> RazorKat: What's his full name? I might be able to find out.
> 
> stingai: Steven Johansen. I hope they didn't fire him and make him leave without me. :(
> 
> RazorKat: I seriously doubt it. I'll ask around. The hospital staff know me. Do you know who took him?
> 
> stingai: A black man and a white man. 148.232.68.2, 148.262.71.173
> 
> stingai: I'm worried about him.
> 
> RazorKat: I'll try to find out who they are.
> 
> stingai: Thanks, RazorKat. I should probably leave soon... sorry about last weekend.
> 
> RazorKat: See you later then. I'll try to find out about you father.  
> 

Jake logged off and leaned back to consider the exchange. It was definitely something to ask Carter about.

It was getting weirder with every conversation they had.

He opened up his email and started sorting through it. He'd look into that later on, after Carter was probably going to be up. For now, he could work on more normal business.

* * *

Zoe was fiddling with the gifts under their small but decorated Christmas tree when the door opened to admit her father.

"Good evening, Jack," S.A.R.A.H. greeted him warmly. "I cooked a macaroni and cheese casserole for dinner with purple potato fries and Brussels sprouts with a honey glaze."

"She's been yakking with Carpe Diem," Zoe grinned at him. "I talked her out of her first two ideas."

"Somehow, I don't think I even want to ask," Carter chuckled slightly. "Is it already done, or is there anything else that has to be done up first?"

"Everything is ready, Jack," S.A.R.A.H. told him.

"Are those for us?" Zoe asked, indicating the wrapped boxes in his hands.

"Thanks, S.A.R.A.H.," Carter called out. "And yes, they are; Jo gave them to me when I gave her ours," he explained as he put them under the tree. "After dinner, we're going to have to get dressed up; can you get some of our better outfits ready for then?"

"Right away, Jack," S.A.R.A.H. said cheerfully.

"Thanks," he said as they headed over to have dinner. "What _were_ her first two ideas, anyways?" He asked Zoe dubiously.

"One was a casserole of those Brussels sprouts with blue cheese and walnuts, the other was something involving raw fish," she shuddered and sat down while her father served them both.

"Thank you for talking her out of them," he said sincerely, giving each of them a sample helping of the sprouts that had been cooked to start with. "Let's just hope that these taste better than I remember the regular things," he chuckled slightly, sitting down as S.A.R.A.H. brought out their drinks.

"Tea?" He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Peppermint," Zoe nodded and speared a Brussels sprout. "Thank you S.A.R.A.H.."

"You are welcome, Zoe," the house responded.

"Not bad," Zoe said in honest surprise when she finished chewing.

"Not for Brussels sprouts," Carter agreed after trying one. "Let's just not use them as a main dish," he added, looking up to warn S.A.R.A.H. He didn't like to think about the casserole Zoe'd described too much.

"So what's up after dinner?" Zoe asked.

"I've got an invitation to one of those end-of-the-year awards ceremonies," he explained. "Thought you'd appreciate the chance to get out of the house, so I figured you wouldn't mind going with me this year."

"Thanks, I think," she said dubiously. "Don't they usually feed you at those?"

"Yeah, but I forgot to tell S.A.R.A.H., and I'd rather not irritate her by springing new dinner plans on her," he admitted sheepishly.

"Thank you, Jack," S.A.R.A.H. said.

"You're welcome," he told her. "Besides, I prefer the cooking around here to what usually gets catered in," he added, starting on the casserole that was gooey on the outside and crunchy on the outside.

"When are we likely to get home?" Zoe asked, sipping her tea between bites of casserole. "This is really good, S.A.R.A.H.."

"Thank you, Zoe."

"Not entirely sure," Carter admitted. "Might be some time around midnight, maybe a bit later if something comes up; it's a bit of a drive to get there, and there's the usual socializing afterwards."

"Late enough to open gifts when we get home?" she asked hopefully.

"We'll see," he chuckled. "The ones from your mother, at any rate, we'll have to see if we're awake enough to do more than that."

"And yours from me," she insisted, honestly more interested in it than her own, much larger, collection of wrapped boxes.

"All right, all right," he smiled. "Jo's waits though ... I have a feeling I'm going to need some sleep before dealing with that."

"Ah, it's not that bad," Zoe snickered. "She means it in the best way, honest."

"I know, but I'm still not sure I'm up to whatever her idea of a suitable Christmas gift for your boss is," he chuckled between bites of dinner. "I see that quite a pile of things came from Chance too."

"He helped me with yours too," she smiled teasingly. "You'll never guess what it is."

"Well, I'll just have to wait to see then," Carter chuckled, finishing his dinner. "Remember to pick something nice tonight, okay?" He reminded her as he started collecting the dishes.

"I will, Dad," she promised and headed up to her bedroom to get ready.

"S.A.R.A.H.?" Carter asked as he headed to his own room. "Do you have any apple cider you can have warm for when we get back? If not, keep some water ready for hot chocolate."

"Of course, Jack," she answered sweetly. "Would you like spice in the cider?"

"Sure," he chuckled. "I'll probably be back before Zoe is; don't worry about it if I am."

"Very well. Do you wish me to wake you when she gets back?"

"Yes, and if she isn't back by one in the morning and I am," he told her, changing into a fairly comfortable suit for the evening, rather than the tux that was sitting next to it.

"That is not usually appropriate for a awards ceremony, Jack," S.A.R.A.H. said.

"That would be because we're not actually going to one, just don't tell Zoe that," he smiled, straightening out his suit. "I want to try and surprise her with where we're going."

"Very well," she said and fell silent while Carter finished dressing and double-checked his appearance for anything that needed fixing after a day at work.

Satisfied, he started back out to the main room, waiting for Zoe to finish getting dressed. He took the time to find and inspect the gift that said 'from Zoe' on it. A solid three feet long, it was hard plastic under the cardboard container and didn't rattle, though it wasn't heavy, or overly light, for it's size.

By the time he heard her snicker, he had to admit that she was probably right. He had no clue at all what it was.

"Wow," was all he could manage to say as he took in the sleek, moderately glittering black dress that was cut a bit more adult than he liked for his daughter, but he knew also wasn't inappropriate for a sixteen year old girl. She'd changed her piercings too; they were more subtle, more appropriate for an awards dinner, as was her make-up. The whole package made him seriously reconsider his plans of turning her loose with Chance.

Of course, he'd already turned down the invitation to the awards ceremony in Portland ... and if he could trust the kat with what had happened on Halloween, he could trust him just as well now, when she was dressed and not drugged up.

"You look great, Zoe," he said honestly. "So, should we get going?"

"Sure," she smiled and took his arm as they walked outside into the biting cold. "I think I'm a little over-dressed though."

"A little maybe, but I think it'll be okay," he chuckled as they headed out to the car, leaving the cruiser behind. "You know I don't like wearing that tux."

"You aren't too fond of the suit," she pointed out dryly before getting into the passenger side. "When do I get to find out where we're actually going?"

"When we get there," he chuckled. "I might not be able to keep a secret that well, but I can still _try_ to surprise you, okay?"

"All right, Dad," she smiled at him and settled back to wait the drive out.

It didn't take too long before he was sure that Zoe knew where they were headed. The fact that he was driving back into town, and up to the school, was the main 'hint,' and one he couldn't really work around.

"I have a couple ground rules for you tonight," he said seriously, even as he parked outside the school, where the annual Eureka Christmas party was getting into full swing.

"Yes?" she only just contained her excitement.

"First off, no sneaking out to go to the Heat Wave's party tonight," he said. "I don't know what's going on there, but I'm sure there's something. I've got some people there who'll be keeping an eye out for you, and you _really_ don't want me finding out you've broken that one. Second, I'd like to get us both home not too long after midnight, but there's a bit more leeway there. Third ... I'm on call tonight, so I might have to head out early. But I want you to stick fairly close to your chaperone for tonight, either way."

"No problem Dad," she nodded as seriously as she could manage. "I really don't want a repeat of Halloween, honest."

"Good," he said, opening up the driver's side door. "Neither do I. Now c'mon, let's head in."

"Yes, Dad," she grinned and got out of his car, her shiver as much from excitement as from the wind.

"You know, you never asked who your chaperone was going to be," he observed as they walked up to the school, moving quickly to get into the wind-shadow of the building.

"It's a seriously short list," she pointed out with a snicker. "Jo, Beverly and Chance. Odds say it's Chance, since Jo would be on call with you and Beverly can't guarantee to stay with me."

"I could always have asked Taggart to keep an eye on you," he teased. "He _would_ have a tranq gun, if he needed it."

"Yeah, but you don't _trust_ him that much," she said with easy confidence as he opened the door and they walked inside.

"Well, I guess you're right," he chuckled. "Though it also has something to do with the fact that Chance is the one who talked me into bringing you out tonight," he added as they headed inside, Chance waiting for them near the bar, dressed up very nicely in what looked like a suit of his own. When Chance saw Zoe coming in, it was _very_ clear that he was surprised to see just how dressed up she was.

"Wow," he said approvingly. Not for the first time that night, Carter wondered if he should reconsider ... but decided to back off again. If Chance behaved with all that was working against it at Halloween, he would behave now, and make sure everyone else did too.

"I'll see you two around," he said, stepping back and heading off to give them some space.

"Thanks, Dad," Zoe nodded to him, then turned to Chance. "He said we were going to an awards dinner."

"Figures," Chance chuckled. "I like the results though," he admitted with a grin. "Want something to drink before we head down to the big party?"

"Sounds good to me," she smiled at him. "I'll behave this time too. The whole night."

"Thanks," he grinned as they started off to get some of the holiday punch. "I think your Dad'd skin me on principle if things went screwy this time."

"You, me, Jo, Taggart, Jake ... probably even Lojack just for good measure," she giggled and accepted the glass he poured for her. "He said to be back midnight-ish."

"I heard the rules," he nodded seriously. "Hey, maybe if this goes well he'll drop the grounding soon."

"I'm not gonna hold my breath, but here's hoping," she grinned. "Are Jake and Marie here too?"

"Somewhere," he nodded. "They're out together tonight, not with me."

"Okay," she smiled. "Hope you're not giving up the night with them just to get me out of the house?"

"Nah," Chance chuckled. "We'll get our time later. Besides, I get to head out with them any time," he smiled and glanced around to make sure he wasn't overheard. "Besides, Jake's planning to propose to Marie in the morning," he whispered to her. "It's a good night for them to have out."

"Oh yeah," she grinned. "At least he probably doesn't have to worry about what she'll say."

"Even though he is," Chance chuckled as the two of them started for the dance floor. "Leave it to him to worry about a sure thing."

"True," she smiled and easily relaxed to follow him in the slow dance.


	16. Christmas Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Between the food, family and gifts, there is a proposal of marriage, a new puppy, Melody makes a serious mistake and a small war breaks out between S.A.R.A.R., B.R.A.D. and S.T.I.N.G.. It's just another day in Eureka.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written with Karl Wolfemann

"Everybody's got breakfast out there, right?" Marie called out from the kitchen.

"Yes, dear, now get some for yourself!" Jean called back with a chuckle, shaking his head as Chien rested his massive head on Jake's leg, hoping to score a piece of bacon or two from the Kat that was easily bribed by puppy-dog eyes.

"Yeah, even the bottomless gut over here is slowing down," Jake laughed.

"Hey, she's a good cook," Chance objected.

"I'm not sure if he was talking about you or Chien," Marie giggled as she brought out her own plate. "And I _have_ been grabbing some as I cooked," she added.

"Good," Jean chuckled. "Thanks for making breakfast, Marie. I _could_ have grabbed something from the Cafe," he pointed out.

"Pancakes, scrambled eggs and microwaved sausage and bacon is easy enough to cook," she chuckled. "Besides, now the oven's up to heat for some of the cooking later."

"Still better than either of us would dare to try," Jake snickered.

"Not my fault that the microwave is the most you guys ever learned to cook with," she teased, tucking into her breakfast hungrily. "Any idea when Cindy's planning on coming over?"

"As soon as she's... ah... rested up from last night," Chance chuckled.

"She went to Heat Wave, hu?" Marie giggled.

"Is there any doubt with her?" Jean chuckled, shaking his head. "I'm surprised she doesn't already have a family of her own started by now."

"Not _all_ her parties involve that sort of thing, Dad," Marie chuckled.

"They aren't?" Jake raised a teasing eyebrow.

"Just most of them," Chance admitted. "Anyways, probably another hour or two."

"Early enough to help with the cooking," Jean nodded.

"And late enough that I get a break from cooking for a bit," Marie chuckled, finishing her breakfast, holding her plate down for Chien to lick clean before taking the dishes out to put them in the washer.

"Remind me _never_ to just rinse a plate and use it again," Chance chuckled to Jake.

"It's an old habit of hers," Jean chuckled. "We never had to worry about leftovers going bad or plates needing to be rinsed though," he mused.

"Yeah, I imagine," Jake shook his head. "Still weird. We haven't had pets in a long time."

"You also aren't used to having various things, some cute, some less than cute, coming home from work with you yet," Marie giggled as she came back in. "Don't worry, you'll get used to it eventually with me around," she winked.

The Kats exchanged a concerned looked, then Jake shrugged. "She does have to put up with our creations too."

"I'll be sure to ask first," she giggled. "Or just keep them at my place," she added as somebody rang the doorbell.

"Huh... guess Cindy recovered faster than expected," Chance mused.

"You want to go let her in then?" Marie chuckled.

"Sure," he nodded and stood to answer the door.

"So just how often will these critters be coming in?" Jake asked while munching on a piece of crispy bacon and adjusting his mind to the reality that there would be strange animals around his house that were supposed to be there.

"Shouldn't be often," Marie said easily. "I don't make new creatures that often, and I'm still mostly working on the Rebirth project at this point, so unless I whip up a proof of concept that'll be easier to explain than just turning off my holo-belt, probably going to be a while before I bring any home."

"Don't take this wrong, but good," Jake smiled at her. "We've never had animals around, either of us, that weren't strays."

"You!" Chance's near-growl snapped everyone's attention to the front door.

"Chance?" Marie asked, standing up and leaning over ... to see her mother on the other side of the door, starting forward.

"Marie, Mr. Furlong," Jessica said, looking between them a little uncomfortably. "Can I come in for a few minutes?"

"Be _very_ careful what you say, dear." Jean stood and entered the living room where everyone now was.

"I guess so," Chance reluctantly stepped out of the way and let her in.

"I intend to be, Jean," she said, stepping into the house and closing the door behind her. "First off, I wanted to apologize for what I said at Halloween. It was short-sighted of me, and I'd like to think I'm usually better than to just jump to the worst interpretation."

"All right," Chance nodded, though there were no doubts that Jake and Marie weren't quite so ready to forgive.

"You've said things like that before, Mom," Marie pointed out softly. "It's going to take more than this to convince me."

"I know," Jessica sighed. "And I don't really blame you for it. I just had to say it anyways. You three... you really are close, and you do care for each other, from what I've heard about the past few weeks."

"We have been for some time, Ms. Bruener," Jake said seriously, almost biting his tongue to stop himself from saying more.

"I still don't think I can say I approve of the relationship the three of you have, but...." She reached into her purse and pulled out a small, wrapped box, handing it to Marie. "I think I'm at the point where I can start to handle it. I'd like you to have this, Marie. It belonged to my great-grandmother, and I think it's time that you have it."

Marie gave her a skeptical look, but stepped forward to take the offering and carefully unwrapped it after glancing at her father.

She opened up the jewelry box that she unwrapped, the breath catching in her throat as she saw the necklace inside, a gold chain with sapphires mounted along the front and a diamond in the middle.

"My mother gave it to me when your father and I got engaged ... it seemed like a good time to keep the tradition going," Jessica smiled slightly, not entirely sure what to make of the stunned look on Marie's face, but hoping it was good.

It was when she looked up and saw and even more stunned one on Jake that she really started to wonder what she'd missed out on. She caught Chance shake his head slightly when Jake glanced at him, and a bit of more subtle communication she couldn't understand, before the pair settled without saying a word.

"Thank you, mother," Marie looked up after a long moment to absorb what had just happened.

"You're welcome," Jessica said. "I should probably be going... I just wanted to make sure you got that today." Marie hesitated for a moment, then stepped forward and hugged her, a gesture the older woman returned before stepping back.

"Maybe we'll be able to handle fifteen minutes in the same room for New Year's," she half-joked.

"Maybe we will," Marie said, watching her mother leave.

"That... was very strange," she said, looking down at the necklace again before carefully closing the box.

"You have no idea," Jake murmured, though it wasn't to anyone in particular. "Care to tell us about it? There must be a story to anything that old," he stepped up to her and kissed her gently. 

"I don't know too much about it," Marie admitted. "But I do remember it from when I was little."

"Your mother wore it more often back then," Jean smiled, sitting back down. "It's true; she did get it when we got engaged. As I understand, it was an heirloom that was usually passed on to the first daughter to make it that far."

"I remember now," Marie smiled slightly, thinking back. "About a hundred and fifty years ago, my great-great-grandmother got engaged to somebody who ended up on the wrong side of one of the revolutions. When the two of them started running, before they'd gotten married, her mother gave her the necklace so they'd have something they could sell to help them reach a safe place to live. Instead, she kept it, and her daughter was able to use it to prove who she was when things calmed down and she went back home."

"Sounds like quite a story," Chance admitted as everyone sat down again. "One worth learning the rest of."

"One of these days, maybe I will," she admitted, leaning up against Jake lightly after setting the box down.

* * *

Zoe stretched and yawned in her bed, debating the value of getting out of its incredible warm and comfortable depths when she didn't have to.

"S.A.R.A.H., is Dad up yet?"

"Yes, Zoe. Should I start breakfast?" The house asked politely.

"Mmm, yeah," she decided reluctantly. "I'm getting up."

"Very well," S.A.R.A.H. said cheerfully, dialing up the lights in her room as she crawled out of bed and started to get dressed. "Did you have a good time last night?"

"Great time," Zoe grinned broadly. "Chance definitely knows how to dance."

"That does seem to be a popular opinion," S.A.R.A.H. observed. "By the way, merry Christmas, Zoe," she added, a large glass of eggnog coming in, nutmeg sprinkled on top of it.

"Ohh, thanks," she grinned and picked it up for a sip before she finished getting dressed and headed downstairs.

"I think we need to have words with S.A.R.A.H. about the concept of excess," Carter chuckled as Zoe came down, munching on a slice of bread, sliding a saucer over to Zoe's end of the table with a couple others on it. "Eggnog bread from some place in Milwaukee."

"I bet it makes great french toast," she grinned at him. 

"An excellent idea, Zoe," S.A.R.A.H. piped up. "Would you like it for breakfast?"

"Sure," Carter said with a bit of a shrug. "Why don't you make up what's left of it?"

"All right," S.A.R.A.H. said easily, the kitchen starting to life as the bread was quickly sliced and the eggs prepared.

"There's something strange about watching your house cook for you," Carter observed. "So, sleep well?"

"Great," she grinned. "Thanks for letting me go to the party."

"Your welcome," he smiled. "Like I said, Chance kinda talked me into it. You did good last night," he added approvingly. "Even if we were too wiped out to do anything more than go to bed when we got home," he chuckled.

"Yeah," she nodded. "So ready to open your present?"

"Sure," he chuckled. "If you'll open up one I got for you first," he added, heading over to get Zoe's present for him, and the square-ish one he'd wrapped for her, and bring them back over to the table.

"Deal," she said easily and accepted the sizeable, though relatively flat, box. She shook it a bit first, and didn't hear much, then began to carefully unwrap it.

Carter watched her hunt out the tape, carefully tearing it with her fingers, keeping it as intact as possible. Watching the process reminded him that he needed to get his pocket knife for his own unwrapping work. By the time he was back with it, she'd managed to get it opened up enough to look at what was inside.

"Careful, there's two in there," he warned her as she worked to fish the binder inside out of the wrapping, a small envelope on top of it.

She went for the envelope first and opened it with the same care, though it wasn't sealed, and pulled a slip of heavy paper out of it. After a bit of flipping around, it sank in what it was.

"You don't have to use all three days in a row," he told her as she looked at the paper promising her three days reprieve from being grounded, whenever she wanted.

"You're testing me," she looked up at him thoughtfully.

"No ... um, well, maybe," he consented. "Same as last night."

"Am I gonna have to have a chaperone for all those days too?" She asked with a chuckle, putting the paper back into the envelope.

"No," he shook his head.

"Okay," she smiled, putting the envelope down and picking up the binder to look through it. 

She was half expecting it to be empty, but found moments captured in photos, awards and papers; all of them times where she'd succeeded. Academia, sports, her as Puck in 'A Midsummer's Night Dream' only a few months before, though it felt like a lifetime in many ways.

"You ... kept all of this?" She looked up at him in shock.

"Some of it I had to dig out of where I was keeping for that, but yeah," he smiled. "Believe it or not, I _do_ try to notice more than the bad things."

"Could have fooled me most days," she tried not to sound bitter, and almost made it. "Dad ... why am I still grounded, really? I've screwed up a lot worse than that and you haven't flipped out this bad," she asked much more honestly subdued.

"You scared the Hell out of me," he admitted softly. "The only reason you _didn't_ end up going through what I'd thought had happened was because Chance got you out of there and wouldn't take advantage of you himself."

"Dad, I'm _hardly_ a virgin, you know," she pointed out with a quiet seriousness and managed to not elaborate any more.

"Maybe not, but you're still my little girl ... and there's a difference between having sex with somebody your own age when your head's on mostly straight, and somebody who's twice your age and then some when you've been drugged. What would've happened if Chance _hadn't_ been there, or if he'd been willing to go along with you?"

"I probably would have had a great time if he hadn't been there, and the idea he would have gone along with it's as ludicrous as the idea _you_ would have," she snorted. "I did know what it was all about when I snuck in, after all."

"You're not really helping your case any," he pointed out. "Things could've gotten _really_ out of control... I don't want to see you after that."

"I'll keep that in mind," she replied coldly.

"Zoe...." He sighed, shaking his head. "Look... I've seen what can happen when parties like that go bad. Mix that in with what happened with Jaeger just a couple weeks before that... like I said, you scared me. I'm trying to keep you safe... maybe I'm doing it the wrong way, but I can't think of any other way to _do_ it. Last night went pretty well... I'll think about what to do after this, okay?"

"It's not like I have a choice," she pointed out, though she was fingering the scrapbook carefully, still absorbing what it was all about. "You said you'd open yours next," she tried to focus on what today meant, instead of the argument that had come of it.

"Right," he nodded, opening up the pocketknife and cutting the taped paper on the long, narrow box that Zoe had gotten for him, sliding out the cardboard box inside and started to open it up before she stopped him.

"The card first, okay?"

He nodded and found a square white envelope taped to one side and opened it. The picture on it struck him first; it was of Zoe standing slightly in front of and between Jake and Chance, the tabby's hand on her shoulder and all three were smiling.

"Is this from you, or the three of you?" He asked, looking up at her before opening the card to look inside.

 

> **Season's Greetings,**
> 
>  **We would have preferred to be invisible partners in this, but Zoe said you'd have a conniption fit if you thought she'd gotten it on her own.**
>
>>  **Jake and Chance**
> 
>  **PS: As interesting as it might be to watch you have a 'conniption' I do not want her in trouble
>
>> \-- Chance
> 
> **

 

"I ... think I'm worried now," Carter chuckled slightly, putting the card back into the envelope. "I'll remember not to freak though," he promised her.

At least as long as whatever it was wasn't _worth_ freaking out about.

He opened the box the rest of the way, his eyes widening as he pulled out the display stand and wooden bat secure in a hard plastic case, complete with the paperwork certifying it as an '81 World Series bat.

"How ..."

"The internet and friends with deep pockets that really wanted to help me replace the one you wrecked trying to save me," she said softly. "I know it's not the same, but it's the same year at least."

"I _did_ save you, and it was worth it," he reassured her, leaning over to hug her tightly. "Thanks though, honey."

"Glad you like it," she very willingly let the embrace last as long as he cared to.

"Breakfast is ready if you are," S.A.R.A.H. eventually interrupted.

"Why don't we eat, then you can open a few more of those?" Carter smiled, leaning back. "And I'll go put this up where it belongs," he added with a chuckle as S.A.R.A.H. brought their food to the table.

Despite the unique flavors, it wasn't a meal either Carter was paying much attention to.

"If you would like, I could keep the food hot until you're done with your presents," S.A.R.A.H. offered.

"Sure," Zoe giggled. "I think our distraction is insulting her cooking."

"I am not programmed to feel insulted, Zoe," S.A.R.A.H. reminded her politely. "However, you would likely enjoy your meals more if you weren't preoccupied."

"We can take a hint," Carter chuckled. "Why don't you go ahead and get another of yours?"

She grinned and scrambled to the tree to pick out three packages, and handed the largest of them to her father. "These are from Jo," she added with a mischievous glitter in her eyes.

"Okay," Carter chuckled, cutting the wrapping paper open, finding it fairly easy to do before he opened the box ... and pulled out a high-grade bulletproof vest that he quickly recognized as identical to hers except for the size.

"Only Jo," he said, looking at it before putting the box aside and turning his attention to Zoe.

"It's the best way she knows to say she cares," Zoe giggled before rattling the larger of the two packages Jo had wrapped for her.

"Careful, knowing her it might be something that can go off," Carter joked.

At least he _hoped_ he was joking.

"There are no explosive in the box, Jack," S.A.R.A.H. assured him before Zoe began to carefully unwrap the simply and precisely wrapped gift.

"Oooh!" Zoe exclaimed in real surprise at the box of spa bath goodies. "I thought she'd have forgotten by now."

"Jo doesn't forget, remember?" Carter smiled. "Not about anything she thinks matters, anyways."

"Yeah, but she found out about this before you were sheriff," she explained. "There was no way she could have known back then that _you'd_ be here, much less me."

"True," he nodded. "Well, guess she didn't forget about it after all. I should let her know you liked it?"

"Until I can," she nodded.

"If I may interrupt, I have a gift for the season as well," S.A.R.A.H. said.

"You... do?" Both of them asked, looking up.

"Where is it?" Carter asked, not entirely sure where his _house_ would hide a Christmas present.

"I can bring her out," she said sweetly.

"Her?" He asked, quietly running through half a dozen different possibilities that came to mind, each one getting more frightening than the last.

"Why don't you do that," Zoe said, not entirely sure what was up as one of S.A.R.A.H.'s robots picked up a piece of extra bacon and carried it towards the back of the house. The small robot, and most of the bacon, returned promptly with a brownish-gray, shaggy mutt of a puppy chasing it.

"You got a puppy," Carter said, his brain working to just try and figure out the questions he needed to have answered. "Where from?"

"She is one of Lojack's puppies that couldn't find a home," S.A.R.A.H. explained. "He was quite concerned for her. He said she was not very bright."

"That's not saying much coming from Lojack," Zoe tried to keep a straight face as the puppy captured it's bribe, then turned her attention to the humans.

"How long has she been here?" Carter asked, shifting to kneel and look at the pup. 

"Four days, since the snow started," S.A.R.A.H. said. "She has gone outside several times a day. Despite his concerns, she does seem to known enough to come in from the cold."

"And where have you been keeping her?" Carter asked.

"I do have areas that the two of you haven't found yet," the house pointed out. "Do you like her? To the best of my knowledge, she doesn't have a name yet."

"You know, if we turn one of Lojack's pups away, you'll never have a moment of peace again," Zoe giggled as the puppy jumped up to lick her face enthusiastically. "You've seen what he did to Taggart."

"And still does," Carter chuckled slightly, trying to get a good look at the pup's feet to guess how big she'd get. Even young, likely well under six months, she was showing the size of her sire, and likely a mother that wasn't small herself. "Any idea what breed she is? I guess you've already been taking care of her for a few days...."

"We have ample supplies already prepared," S.A.R.A.H. informed him. "According to the database, Lojack is a mix with otter hound the likely dominant breed. From his descriptions of her mother, she is likely a feral bloodhound or bloodhound mix that runs loose in the area."

"I don't think I'll mention that to Taggart ... last thing he needs right now is to know there's another dog out there he can't keep track of," Carter chuckled. "So, Zoe, got a name in mind for her, or we want to wait on that a bit?"

"S.A.R.A.H., did Lojack give you any indication how smart she is, beyond 'not very bright'?" Zoe asked.

"No, he did not, but she has," S.A.R.A.H. answered. "She is definitely not as intelligent as he is by a significant margin, but she has shown a good grasp of basic English and Canine for her age in the past few days; better than many obedience and herding champions despite her lack of an attention span to speak of. She will likely have an adult IQ in the low 80's by my best estimate."

Zoe considered the puppy that was now tormenting her father.

What do you say to letting her name herself, or at least give it a try?"

"I suppose we can try," he chuckled once he was sure he could talk without getting a mouth full of puppy-tongue for the effort.

"Hey girl," Zoe caught the puppy's attention. "Do you want a name?"

The pup looked up at her, concentrating for a while, then nodded.

"Cool," Zoe grinned and glanced up. "S.A.R.A.H., do we have letter blocks or something that she could move around easily to spell a name?"

"There is the Scrabble game," the house offered.

"Well... if we could trust her not to swallow the chips, that would probably work," Carter mused.

"No way to find out but to try," Zoe pointed out with a grin as S.A.R.A.H. delivered the game to the kitchen counter.

"Point ... but if we have to explain this to Taggart, it was _your_ idea," Carter chuckled. "Do you know if she's ever been checked out by a vet? Doesn't seem likely, but...."

"Fine, it's my idea," Zoe rolled her eyes. "He knows you can't win against me on little things."

"I would consider it highly unlikely she has been seen by a vet," S.A.R.A.H. answered.

"About what I figured ... we'll have to arrange for that then," he said as they scattered the chips, face up. "If she isn't literate, any thoughts on how to figure something out?"

"Suggest names until she nods to one," Zoe shrugged and watched the puppy sniff at the chips. They kind of looked at each other, and Zoe began to say the sounds of each letter as she touched it.

Eventually, she started to paw the chips off to the side, and Zoe started sounding out what the pup was spelling. Before too long, four chips were lined up.

"Ress?" Carter asked once she sat down and looked over her handiwork.

The pup nodded.

"I think your IQ estimate might be a touch low, S.A.R.A.H.," Zoe shook her head. "She's got a wicked sense of humor."

"I do not believe I understand," S.A.R.A.H. admitted. "What is the joke?"

"She'll be able to tell Taggart her name," Zoe giggled. "Ress is a name a dog can pronounce."

"Meaning she'll be able to prove that Lojack isn't the only dog out there that's smart enough to be trouble," Carter chuckled, shaking his head. "You said the others from the litter found homes?"

"That is what he indicated," S.A.R.A.H. said.

"Okay... has she been out for a real _walk_ since she came here?"

"I do not have the ability to walk the dog," S.A.R.A.H. said in perfect deadpan.

"I think I know what we're doing next," Zoe grinned. "Though she'd best stay in the car until we get a leash and collar on her or Taggart will completely loose it."

"Yep," Carter chuckled, putting away the chips. "If you want to open up a couple more presents, I don't think the store'll be open yet, but we would probably head out after breakfast at least."

"Sounds good to me," she nodded and petted Ress before standing to pick another gift; one from her mother.

* * *

That evening, Chance was taking another helping of the second duck that had been prepared for dinner, everybody else starting to slow down while Marie brought out the three pies she and Cindy had prepared earlier.

"You know, I'd thought you two had made a bit much earlier," Jean chuckled.

"You've only seen Chance's appetite at work once though," Marie snickered. "I have a better idea of what he can eat ... besides, Chien _did_ manage to beg his way through about half a ham," she smirked down at the massive mastiff, whose head quickly found its way to Jake's lap as they started cutting open the mincemeat pie.

"And Jake has a remarkable appetite for someone so skinny," Cindy grinned at him.

"I _am_ a tom," he pointed out with a teasing grin back. "I have to admit that I was surprised to find humans had created a meat desert."

"This is an old-fashioned one," Cindy said easily, dishing out a slice to each of them. "These days, they usually use a little beef bouillon or suit and call it close enough, if they even do that. But I'm a purist, especially with three carnivores."

"Four, if you count our beggar," Marie added and let Chien lick her fingers clean of a bit of her pie.

"Hard not to," Cindy giggled, putting a bit of whipped topping on hers before taking a bite. "I'd _never_ pamper him the way you guys do."

"Oh you _wouldn't_ , would you?" Jean asked with a knowing chuckle.

"Since that usually means I'm about to have something I did when I was twelve thrown in my face, I'm going to say that yes, I probably would after all," Cindy smirked.

"So what did she do?" Chance leaned forward with an eager grin to get some dirt on a girlfriend.

"It wasn't Chien, but we had a number of cats, mostly normal for once," Jean chuckled. "One of them, an old tomcat Marie had taken in a few weeks earlier, was probably the most spoiled cat I've ever seen. Then I found out that Cindy had been sneaking in fish for him when she'd been coming over."

"Only cat who ever really liked me ... at least the four-legged kind," Cindy chuckled. "I remember him now."

"The fish helped," Jake deadpanned, only to loose it when Chance erupted in laughter.

"Besides, I'm a Kat, not a cat," Chance added after he caught his breath.

"Did you put any catnip into anything?" Marie raised an eyebrow at Cindy.

"Nope, they're just feeling silly on their own."

"I shouldn't be surprised," Marie chuckled, shaking her head. "After all, it's their first Christmas ... and they've been behaving almost all day."

"Well we _are_ trying to keep it family friendly, with Jean here and all," Chance pointed out. "Otherwise, we have a great orgy setup going."

"I _think_ that's my cue to leave _before_ all the presents are unwrapped," Jean chuckled, finishing his slice of the pie. "Speaking of which, we want to work on that while we finish off the last pies, if anybody even has room left for those?"

"I would have suggested that anyway," Marie smiled at him and dished up a half a pie for Chance to keep him busy for a little while.

"Oh yeah," Chance nodded and accepted Marie's offering.

"The fact that Chance and I are both here should've done the job," Cindy giggled. "He knows all about my 'second job,'" she told the tabby easily when he gave her a curious look.

"I learned rather quickly, once somebody told Jessica that Marie's best friend was doing videos they thought we should know about," Jean said dryly. "Frankly, I don't care, as long as everybody's willing. Not everybody around here was quite so progressive at the time."

"Mom among them, to the surprise of nobody," Marie said, rolling her eyes.

"Still doesn't approve," Jake muttered, then shook his head. "Start on the gifts, before this gets too ugly?"

"Sounds good to me," Cindy said gladly. "Should I pass them out, or does somebody else want to do the honors?"

"Go ahead," Marie nodded and helped everyone to settle into the living room near the tree.

"We'll start with this one," Cindy grinned, picking up a box and handing it over to Jean. "This one's from me."

"Why thank you," he looked a bit surprised before opening the box with only a minimum of care until he reached the box and saw what was printed on it. "Oh my, you didn't."

"I did," she grinned. "And if we get to watch it with you some time, so much the better."

"What is it?" Chance asked.

" _Old_ theatrical-reel release of Them," Jean grinned, looking inside to see what sort of condition the canister was in. "My one real nod to antique collecting."

"Them?" Jake asked, his interest peaked by a title that sounded decidedly like something he liked.

"You've had _these two_ here for _months_ and they _still_ don't know what 'Them' is?" Cindy asked Marie incredulously.

"I'm not _quite_ as big a fan of giant monster movies as they are?" The brown-furred tabby offered sheepishly.

"'Them' is a classic of the giant-monster genre," Jean offered with a chuckle of his own. "Giant ants, in this case. Spawned a million imitators."

"Ooo, we are definitely watching whenever you want to show it," Jake's ears flicked up and a wide grin spread across his face. "It sounds _great_ ."

"Maybe around New Years," Jean chuckled. "I'll have to pull out my old projector. "So ... if you can find it, Cindy, how about my gift to Chance and Jake next? I'd have picked up something for each of you, but I didn't really know enough to be sure what to get," he admitted as Cindy sorted her way down to the package from him.

"You won't get any complaints from us," Chance assured him. "This whole gift-giving thing is still just fun to us."

"Yeah, I managed to find a couple of guys who were laid back about it," Marie smiled as Cindy handed the box over, looking on curiously as Jake and Chance both started to unwrap it. It was a picture of dichotomy; Chance tearing into it while Jake carefully used his claws to cut the clear tape holding the decorative paper around the simple-looking wood and metal plaque shaped like a police shield.

"Turn it over," Jean smiled at them when their expressions were clearly of confusion.

Chance nodded and flipped it over, his eyes going wide in recognition well before any of the words carved into it sank in.

"I wanted to do something to recognize your help with Jaeger, especially in saving Marie," Jean explained.

"I'd say you managed it," Chance murmured, looking over the intricate plaque. His gaze eventually landed on the three names listed and he nearly choked.

"How did you ever get Carter and Stark to sign this?" Jake asked in as much shock as his partner.

"I pointed out what you two had done, and they didn't have any problems with it at all," Jean said seriously. "They know how much you helped with that."

It nearly broke Marie's heart to see how hard it was for both toms to believe it, despite how much they wanted to.

"I think we have some more getting used to this place," Chance finally murmured just above a whisper. It was still enough for the others to hear how choked up his was.

Jake wasn't even trying to hide the tears welling up in his eyes, his voice stolen by both the acknowledgement and what it did for Chance.

"You've got the time to," Marie said softly, reaching over to squeeze Chance's shoulder lightly. "Carter and Stark aren't as bad as the guy you had to handle."

"No," he managed to choke out. "Knew that, but this ...." his voice drifted off again, at a loss for words as he looked up at Jake, half hoping his partner would be better able to say what they meant.

Jake swallowed and struggled to find his voice and the words to explain, and eventually surrendered to the reality that they didn't have them.

"Thank you, Jean," Jake said, praying that it didn't sound as lame as he thought it did.

"You're both welcome ... you've said plenty just looking at it," Jean smiled understandingly.

"I think you just got the reaction of the night," Cindy told Jean.

"Maybe," Chance used the distraction to focus on something else as he carefully put the plaque on a table where it would be safe until they could hang it.

"Whenever you two are ready, it's your pick for who gets the next gift," Marie told them gently, offering them a way to shift the focus off of them.

The toms glanced at each other, then Jake nodded and stood to pull a package about the same size as the one they'd been given, but much lighter, and handed it to Cindy a little uncertainly. "I think you'll have fun with it."

"For me?" She asked, waiting for a nod before ripping the wrapping paper open, looking at the plain white box inside and opening it, whistling as she looked over the folded pink silk with gold embroidery and shimmers of silver and gold beneath it.

"It's a design from back home," Jake explained, trying not to blush as she brought the translucent garment out and it became readily apparent that it was not only see-threw, but it didn't cover anything important either despite having many layers and parts. "I know some of the dances used with it, if you want to learn them."

"Oh, I think that'll work just _fine_ ," she grinned at the surprised look Chance gave Jake.

"You never seemed interested in that level of foreplay," Jake shrugged, his color a rich red under his fur.

"Never knew it was an option," Chance pointed out, giving Jake a light kiss that nearly turned into something much more intense with how heightened both their emotional states were at the moment. "Didn't know you were into that kind of thing."

"I think this house just got a _lot_ more interesting," Cindy giggled as the pair separated and she turned to decide what to give next. "Here you go, Marie," she decided after a moment, handing a package over to her friend.

"Thanks," Marie smiled, taking it and opening the wrapping paper in a careful manner that unconsciously mimicked her father's and was noticeably similar to her boyfriend's. She opened the box, pulling out a full color statue of the couch she, Jake, and Chance were sitting on, with Jake sitting on one end reading.

"Thank you," she said, a little confused by the gift, but honestly impressed by the detail of it as she realized she could even make out the title and author of the text from the front cover. She suspected the aircraft schematics on the open pages were accurate to the copy in Jake's library too.

"How many odd looks did you get acquiring that?" Jake asked with a snicker, though he was quite impressed himself.

"Actually, remarkably few, I managed to borrow the prototyping unit," Cindy giggled. "Trust me, it'll make more sense in a bit," she winked at Marie.

"Okay," she smiled. "Well, next up, why don't you pass Chance the tall one from me," she said easily.

"Oof," Cindy grunted as she tried to lift it and decided to just slide it over to the tabby's feet. "Now that's a box."

"Now what could be this heavy?" Chance mused as he tore into the wrapping, then slowed down when it started to shift a bit with part of the paper taken away to reveal dozens of comic book spines. "Ah _cool_ ," he grinned as he picked up the top issue, one with 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' in bold letters across the top and pictures of both the Turtles, nude but for their masks and belts, and Bulls dressed in cowboy outfits.

"It might not be your 'Kat Kommandos,' but I figured it was a step in the right direction," Marie grinned.

"Oh _yeah_ ," he grinned eagerly and began to flip through the collection of trade paperbacks and current issues.

"Chance," Jake nudged his ribs after five minutes.

"Uh?" Chance looked up, then ducked his head. "Sorry. Umm, the little one for Marie."

Cindy giggled as she found the small, jewelry-box sized package and tossed it over to Marie, who caught it as carefully as she could.

"You'd better hope that whatever's in here isn't breakable," the brown tabby pointed out, undoing the wrapping paper, her ears twitching as she opened up the small box and pulled out the keys inside. "What are these for?" She asked curiously.

"That would be the third cyclotron in the garage," Chance explained with a grin.

"Okay ... now I'm going to have to learn to drive it instead of just ride," she chuckled. "How about the one I've got for Jake," she told Cindy.

"Okay," the blonde smirked, standing up.

"The one _under_ the tree!" Marie laughed, pointing towards it.

"Oh, all right, spoil-sport," Cindy teased, sticking out her tongue as she got the proper package out and handed it over to Jake, who unwrapped it with a minimum of damage to the glossy paper.

The DVD boxes became apparent quickly, though it was a bit longer before everyone realized what the collection was of.

"All the major classics," Marie grinned as Jake eagerly flipped through titles and descriptions of a range of grade B horror movies and a few old classics.

"Trying to make up for the 'Them', are you?" Cindy teased.

"Yeah, yeah, I just picked up one that has a selection instead," Marie teased back. "Some giant monster, some sci-fi, most at least slightly goofy."

"These'll be _fun_ ," Jake grinned. "Thank you. Cindy, would you get the big one for her from me?"

"Right here," she said easily, handing over the thick box.

"Well if the last one's any indication, this should be keys to a space shuttle or something," Marie teased, cutting open the wrapping paper. She opened up the top of the box, pulling out an empty ... it looked like a 16x12 picture frame, but it had an LCD screen instead of glass, and a number of buttons on the back.

"Well now ... ah, I get it," she grinned as she looked at what else was in the box and spotted a significant collection of CD slimcases decorated with the artwork of her favorite Furry artists. "I'm guessing they go in up here?" She asked, noticing the loading slot in the top.

"Yes," he nodded with a slight smile. "You can set how often it changes the picture, or choose one to remain on display."

"Well, this is going right by my computer then," she grinned, putting the frame back into the box. "For now, anyways. You have the one I've got for Dad over there?"

"Yep, right here," Cindy nodded and took the package off the top and handed it over.

"Good, I was afraid it had gotten buried for a minute there," Marie smiled and gave it to her father. "This one is fragile."

"I'm sensing a theme here," he teased them. "Give the old man fragile things."

"Only because the old man is interested in such things," Cindy replied and watched as Jean carefully unwrapped the finely carved wood and Plexiglas display case.

"Oh my," he murmured as he realized what he was looking at and the care at which the insects, all admitted to classification within the past few months, had been collected and mounted.

"I managed to get some of the entomology buffs to set aside a couple specimens from their last trip up to Himalayan valleys," she smiled as he went looked over the different species with a childlike wonder she loved to see. "Should have DNA samples at your lab any day now too."

"Thank you," he smiled over at her in delight. "Cindy dear, there is a gift for you, a fair sized box."

"I've been wondering about that... _almost_ as big as the ones Chance has down here for me," she smirked over at the tabby, finding the package from Jean and opening it up as Marie started gathering some of the wrapping paper that would need to be thrown away, collecting it and tossing it into a small garbage bag she'd stowed near the couch.

"So _that's_ what we've been smelling since this morning," Chance chuckled as she unwrapped a elegantly carved and designed spice set.

" _Oooh_ ," Cindy grinned, pulling up one of the half-full bottles, looking at the label to confirm that it really was saffron. "Okay, _this_ is going to last for a while."

"I had hoped so," Jean smiled at her reaction. "Shopping for you can be quite difficult when you are not inclined to visit adult shops, you know."

"With my other hobbies, a girl needs to get her exercise to keep in shape," Cindy winked, putting the bottle back into the spice set carefully. "Thanks, these will come in handy. Okay, Jake? Yours next," she grinned, handing over a package similar to the one she'd given Marie earlier.

He worked it open, curious as to what she had gotten that wasn't to be saved for when just the lovers were in the room. He uncovered one end of the couch, identical to the one his girlfriend had gotten, and his curiosity grew. When the tip of her brown tail appeared a little further in, he started to grin and made quicker work of the rest to show her half-curled up on the couch taking the nap.

"Wow," he murmured, shocked at the detail in it even after having seen Marie's.

"You can switch the cushion she's on there with the matching one on Marie's," Cindy offered with a wink, prompting them to do just that, if only to see why she was so pleased with the fact, leaving them with one statue that had Marie curled up next to Jake with her head on his leg.

"Now there's something I've seen before," Chance chuckled.

"Often," Jake smiled warmly with fond memories of those quiet, peaceful hours where they simply enjoyed either other's presence with no arousal or pressure involved. "Thank you, Cindy. This is a time I enjoy a lot."

"And so does your Marie, so it seemed like a good one to go for the two of you," Cindy smiled. "So, Jake, who's next?"

"There's a gift from Zoe to Chance under there. Small one," he motioned to the part of the tree he'd put it under.

"M'kay," Cindy nodded, finding the one that stood out the most for its different wrapping paper and handing it to the tabby, who opened it with his usual abandon.

"She gave this one to me when I gave her the batch for her place," he explained, peeling the paper off and looking at it. "Huh... okay, I think the programming classes around here are better than anybody thought," he chuckled, looking at the CD case inside.

"What is it?" Marie asked curiously.

"I think she actually managed to get a custom game designed ... no clue _how_ , given the time frame, but that's what it looks like."

"She bribed a couple geeks to help out, but that girl is _brilliant_ ," Jake said with honest admiration. "She did most of the design and idea work, they did coding and graphics with Global computers to help out."

"Still pretty impressive," Chance chuckled, putting it aside. "Well, the next one we couldn't really wrap, but I figure we should tell you about it yet. When you've got the chance to let us work on your car for a couple days, Jean, we've got a couple upgrades we'd like to work into it," he explained. "Give you enough space to take Chien out with you, and set it up so you won't have to worry as much about runaway projects getting their mitts on you."

"The hazards and advantages of having inventor mechanics as almost-kin," Marie giggled.

"I would be delighted," Jean nodded. "Just please keep it street legal. I do occasionally leave Eureka in it."

"No problem; Jake was planning on trying out the Turbokat's new shock-mesh for it, shouldn't be anything too nasty for the streets," Chance said easily.

"Just make sure it doesn't shock anybody _too_ badly, and that I can turn it off," Jean chuckled. "Cindy, there should be a package there for Marie yet...?"

"Right here; running out of ones from you, so I figured it was coming up soon," she chuckled, handing the heavy package over to Marie.

"Open that one _very_ carefully," Jean cautioned her before she could stick her claws under the tape.

"Given how I've been opening them already, I'm scared now," she chuckled. "This isn't a 'Baby's first WMD' set, is it?" She teased, undoing the paper.

"Not exactly," her father chuckled, watching as she unwrapped it, and carefully took the tissue paper off of the Plexiglas box inside. She gave a long, low whistle as she looked over the leather-bound book inside.

"Gray's Anatomy?" she asked, carefully unlocking the box and looking over the old volume.

"One of your great-grandfather's two copies," Jean nodded. "So you can see why I have it boxed so carefully. It's not his 'edited' copy, but...."

"Oh yeah," she said, opening the cover gingerly before closing it up and locking it. "Thank you, and it's probably going to _stay_ in that box."

"Umm, seeing as how everybody's in a serious mood, mind if I break into the pattern?" Jake asked softly with a hint of nervousness.

"Go ahead," Marie said easily. "It's just to keep things from being a free for all, that's all."

Jake nodded and stood to fetch a small, elegantly wrapped box that had clearly seen more care than most had in its presentation. He walked to her and knelt at her side to offer it with a mixture of submission and affection in his manner than made her all the more curious.

"Jake? Is something up?" Marie asked, taking the box from him and starting to unwrap it, doing her best to take as much care undoing his work as he had doing it.

"Just making what we are official," he told her. "By human standards, not just Kat."

Marie only looked more confused as she opened the shimmering silver paper box to reveal a small jewelry box of blue velvet. She opened it and her eyes went wide at a reflexive assessment of the value of the ring she was looking at nestled in its blue velvet container. The large central diamond was impressive enough, but it was surrounded was a starburst nestling of a variety of smaller stones that wound their way in a double helix almost all the way around the band. In the back of her mind, Marie recognized Jake's hand in the design. It wasn't as blatantly feline as the collars he'd designed, but it was not a typical ring by any stretch.

Not even by Eureka's.

"A-are you asking me to marry you?" She asked, wanting to be sure she knew how far he was thinking of it going.

"Yes," he nodded slightly, the tip of his tail twitching nervously. He looked up at her before taking one hand gently and kissing the back of it as her shock settled a bit. "We are committed lovers. I would let the world know that, if you wish it."

" _Gladly_ ," she purred deeply, leaning down to kiss him, hugging him tightly.

"Thank you," he hugged her back, a movement that ended up with her on the floor next to him and a lingering kiss as they forgot all about their audience.

"Good," Chance let out a breath of relief. "I _so_ did not want to deal with him if you'd said no."

"I wouldn't either," Marie smiled, kissing Jake again. "We should probably get back on the couch, huh?" She asked with a giggle.

"So, does this mean I get to play wedding planner, or are you guys going to keep it small and quiet?" Cindy teased lightly as the pair got on the couch and Jake snuggled between his lovers.

"You can play wedding planner, _after_ we set a date," Marie laughed. "Don't expect it anytime soon."

"Oh, all right," Cindy giggled. "If you two are ready, we've got plenty more packages to get opened here," she smiled, watching the threesome snuggle.

"Fine by me," Chance grinned. "Go ahead and open that big one from me." Soon, they were once again focused on working through the dwindling stack of presents, and enjoying the reactions everybody was having to what they received.

* * *

Jim Taggart relaxed back against his lover by the fire among snow-covered evergreens. The weeks of reliable self-control and gentle attention had done her a world of good. He was sure that time away from Jaeger and all he represented did as well. She still wasn't thrilled with her condition, and part of it, but she wasn't prone to snarling about it anymore either.

She was even comfortable enough in her own skin now to lay on the large blanket, waterproof on its underside, and hold him while they watched the fire dance and flicker, listened to the creatures of the forest night and enjoyed the relative peace of being away from people and society for a while.

"Beautiful night out tonight," he observed. "Not too cold for you, is it?" He asked her, looking up, fairly sure it wasn't. Not with her fur on top of everything else.

"It is nice," she admitted and licked his smooth head. "No, I'm not cold. It's so ... quiet ... in its way."

"Yeah," he smiled, snuggling up against her. "And nobody out trying to pretend they're Burl Ives for once," he chuckled even as he felt her shudder.

"And the typical three or four calls for the carolers getting shot at or otherwise threatened," she shook her massive head. "Probably no one wants to risk me answering the call this year."

"That, and I was usually the one taking the shots," Taggart chuckled. "With the dart gun," he added quickly as Jo looked down at him. "I'm not _that_ irritable."

"Mmm, I think I should keep you otherwise occupied every year," she teased him, though she was serious too.

"You've done a pretty good job this year," he chuckled, shifting to kiss her neck lightly. "In good ways," he added and reached back to rub her thigh to a soft rumble of pleasure.

She nuzzled his shoulder and ran a large hand across his chest affectionately, but also possessively and protectively. It was a combination that had scared off a few potential lovers, but Jim relished it. The raw power of his lover was something he enjoyed, and he'd appreciated it even when he didn't know how physically powerful she could be.

He let out a low sound when one of the pups kicked him in the butt.

"They're getting more active lately," he muttered good-naturedly, turning to nuzzle her chest lightly.

"They'll be quite a handful for you," she licked his head again and whimpered softly at the touch of skin on skin on her nipples.

"Yeah, they probably will be," he chuckled. "Feeling any better about the idea of helping me raise them?"

"Better, no," she murmured. "I'm starting to accept that I need to though. No matter what they turn out like, I need to be there."

"It's something," he said softly, kissing her gently. "Besides ... I'll need your help getting the leashes you got me on them," he chuckled slightly, trying to keep her mood from going too far. He wasn't sure how much of it was mood swings, now much chaotic hormones and how much was just not liking the situation, but she could go down hill fast.

He couldn't blame her either. Even in the best possible light, this wasn't an easy thing to go through.

"Oh, you are on your own there," she snorted, a sort of laugh for her current form. "I'm just around so they don't put you in the hospital too many times."

"Gee, thanks," he smirked up at her. "Just wait, they'll be better behaved than you are by the time they're two."

"You mean like how well you have Lojack trained?" she teased back.

"Now that's _hardly_ fair; I didn't get a chance to start on him until he was grown," Taggart pointed out.

"I guess we'll have to see how good you are with pups who have no respect for anything," she chuckled in a deep rumble of honest amusement.

"Has to be easier than a grown dog who thinks he's smarter than anybody," he chuckled, shifting up to kiss her lightly. "Besides, I'm sure they won't be _that_ much worse than human kids."

"That can take your hand off with one bite," she murmured. "They'll be born nearly as big as Lojack," she reminded him.

"I'll be careful," he reassured her. "I _do_ have some idea what I'm doing, okay?"

"I know," she nuzzled him. "There is just so much that could go wrong. They aren't calm even now."

"Much as you're going to hate to hear it, that's normal," he chuckled, nuzzling her neck. "They might not make the full nine months either, between quads and the canine side of them, but they shouldn't be holding still all that much."

"Great," Jo muttered. "I am _so_ not mother material."

"You'll figure it out, as much as you have to," he promised her, rubbing her belly lightly, then up to her breasts. "I've got faith in you."

"More than I do, sometimes," she murmured and ran her hand down his back. "Will the fire be warm enough for you?"

"Between you and the blanket, it should be," he murmured, nuzzling her neck as he started working out of his clothes.

* * *

* * *

* * *

"We've got her!" Chance said, somewhere between smug, exuberant, and pissed, as he came into the Sheriff's office a week after New Year's, waving his PDA.

"She has material of yours in her house?" Carter looked up, as did Jo.

"You bet she does," Chance said, putting his PDA down to show the map with several trackers blinking. "Managed to get the game Zoe gave me for Christmas too," he grumbled.

"That'll be hard to explain," Jo nodded and stood. "Go home, Mr. Furlong. We'll handle it from here."

"I'll be able to identify what she's got," he pointed out.

Carter cast a reluctant look at Jo, who nodded firmly.

"All right, but you stay out of lunging range of Wilson," Carter insisted.

"No problem," Chance nodded, turning to head out to his cyclotron. " _I'm_ not the one who's crazy right now."

"At least he knows where Clawson is right now," Jo said as the pair went out to their vehicles for the fairly short drive to Dr. Willson's house.

True to his word, Chance was actually on the other side of the street when they pulled up there, clearly not about to try and take things into his own hands as he straddled his bike and waited for him with his helmet hanging on the handlebars.

He waited there as Carter walked up to the front door and knocked.

Melody came to the door, opening it and looking between the Sheriff and his deputy with a confused expression.

"Is something wrong?"

"It seems that you have some stolen property in your house," Carter said evenly. "May we come in to find it?"

"Are you really asking me?" She asked him pointedly.

"We _do_ have a warrant from Dr. Stark," Jo offered. "But it would be better if you'd cooperate."

"Come in then," Melody answered, clearly irritated as she stepped back.

"Come on, Mr. Furlong," Carter called over to him, still waiting on his bike across the street.

"Hold it, I can't go _near_ his place, but you're going to escort _him_ into mine?!?" Melody protested, stepping back into the door.

"We could simply remove everything from your home to let him find the stolen property," Jo advised her. "It is your call."

"Fine," she growled lowly, stepping back as Chance crossed the street and started up. "But if _anything_ of mine leaves this house, you'll be hearing about it."

"Right now, that is the least of your concerns, Ms. Wilson," Carter pointed out as Chance looked at his PDA and followed it to the first of several stashes.

"What's he doing?" She demanded.

"We put trackers in some of our stuff, after you started breaking into our place," Chance pointed out. "You weren't paying enough attention to ... here we go," he said, pulling out the game that Zoe had made for him.

"You planted that!" she shouted in outrage.

"Quiet," Jo snapped, silencing everyone as she walked up to Chance and carefully took the case to scan it with an ALS that caused fingerprints to fluoresce. Within moments, her PDA came back with a name. "Then how did your fingerprints get on this?"

"Oh c'mon, like somebody around _Eureka_ couldn't figure out how to plant fingerprints?" Melody scoffed. " _I_ could give you one."

"First generation fingerprints, Ms. Wilson," Jo almost growled. "Investigative tools are capable of telling the difference."

"So unless you can come up with some better explanation, I'm going to have to take you in for questioning and probably arrest you for breaking and entering, violating your restraining order, and petty theft," Carter pointed out, hoping to break the building potential for _Jo_ to go off the handle. "Assuming that you haven't racked up a large enough total to count for something larger by the time my deputy is done looking for things of Mr. Furlong's."

"I haven't done anything wrong!" Melody objected on the edge of hysteria.

Carter just shook his head. "At a minimum, you are under arrest for receiving stolen property. If this is something other than what it looks like, we'll find that out."

"We've got vid of her in our house taking this stuff," Chance added as he pulled out the framed photo of himself, Jake and Marie, all fully dressed, relaxing on the couch by the fire that he'd given Jake for Christmas. "Took your advice about getting Cindy to turn on our cameras."

"You set me up!" Melody nearly screamed.

"Dr. Wilson, please come with me," Carter said politely, but firmly; grateful that Chance didn't respond to her accusation. "If you won't come willingly, I'll have to handcuff you."

"You're on his side," she fumed and turned her outrage on the sheriff. "You've always been on his side! Just because he's not human."

"If that was the case, he wouldn't have had her stop me after you ran Jake through the ringer," Chance growled lowly with a nod towards Jo as Carter got his cuffs out.

"Dr. Wilson, put your hands behind your back," he said firmly, giving Chance a look that very clearly told him to shut up for now.

"I did nothing wrong!" Melody insisted again.

"Do you want me to add resisting arrest to your charges?" Carter asked her as he lost patience.

"All right, all right," she grumbled, turning around and putting her hands behind her back, shooting a venomous glare at Chance while she could and allowed Carter to lead her outside and into his jeep.

"Glad she's out of here," Chance relaxed a bit.

"You _were_ pushing her a bit at the end," Jo pointed out.

"Not more than she deserved," the Tabby muttered. "Like I _could_ have set her up just now ... So, how're the pups doing?" he changed the subject.

"Squirming a lot," she grumbled and helped him collect evidence as they moved through the house, guided by his tracker and knowledge of her hiding spots.

"You know she's been doing this for weeks," he grumbled, waiting while Jo photographed one of his DVD's in Melody's rack. "Hell, this stuff isn't even all _mine_ , some of it's Jake's ... some of it's Marie's even."

"But all from where you live?" she asked evenly.

"Oh yeah," Chance nodded. "All from our place ... there's probably something back in her room too," he said, starting that way as Jo followed.

"How are all of you doing?" she asked and ducked into the bedroom. "A lot has happened lately."

"Holding up pretty well. Jake proposed to Marie over Christmas," Chance chuckled, looking around her bedroom before heading back into her closet. "If she gripes about fur on her stuff, tell her to stuff it," he added as he headed back to the small storage closet he knew she kept her favorite items in.

"Have they set a date?" Jo perked her ears up and watched as he worked through the bizarre collection of stuff in a shrine-like spot behind the main closet.

"Not yet, but it'll be a while out," Chance chuckled, pulling out a couple things that he recognized, and resisting the urge to take some of the photographs that, while Melody had probably taken them, he really didn't think she should have.

"If you want to get a picture of this, it might help with _something_ in terms of extra charges ... don't know if you guys have stalking laws around here or not."

"We do," Jo said seriously and took several pictures of the photos and where they were found. "Maybe this will be enough to jail her for a good long time."

"That, or get Beverly to have her put away somewhere safe for everybody," Chance grumbled. "I just _know_ she's got something to do with the cars being sabotaged."

"Proving it is another matter," Jo said. "We have better odds of proving she's dangerously unstable. It carries a heavier penalty as well."

"Yeah... I'm just a firm believer in nailing folks on everything you can manage," he muttered. "She's been playing with folks' _lives_ , after all... she shouldn't be able to dodge that sort of thing."

"From what we got from her previous locales, she has been doing it for a long time. It just hasn't been anything provable in court."

"Well with any luck we've changed that now," Chance muttered, lashing his tail behind him. "You see Zoe lately?" He asked, hoping to find a better subject for a while.

"Most days," Jo nodded. "She's doing well, under the circumstances."

"That's something. I haven't really had the chance to see her too much since before Christmas," Chance admitted. "Hard to arrange for it, particularly when she doesn't have as much time at the school before rehearsals."

"I can probably talk the sheriff into letting you pick her up from school and take her home," she offered. "It's not really a job for the sheriff's department, after all."

"He's been having you do it?" Chance asked, raising an eyebrow. "Yeah, I'd be willing, if he'll let me."

"When he doesn't," Jo nodded, presenting more grumpiness about it than she really felt for it. "He did let you escort her at Christmas. I'd say he trusts you quite a bit."

"Yeah, I know," Chance nodded. "And I'm grateful for it, really... she's a good kid, and I _do_ like her. It's good that I get along with him as well as I do," he chuckled.

"Yes, it is," Jo nodded. "Is there anything else missing from your home?"

"Not that I've come across yet," Chance said, climbing out. "Some things might just be lost... one of the reasons we haven't really pushed it before this."

"The other being you've simply retrieved it before?" Jo half-asked.

"When I could use the key," he said, not mentioning how he got it as they left the bedroom and headed towards the front door, collecting Chance's things as they went. "Thanks for helping out with this."

"No problem... we should be able to keep it from happening again now. If you find anything else missing, let us know."

"I will," he nodded and headed for his cyclotron to load his stuff for the drive home. "Have a good day, Jo."

* * *

* * *

* * *

S.A.R.A.H. was in the process of having her robots fold the laundry, a few hours after Sheriff Carter and Zoe had left for work and school, when she sensed something unusual.

Somebody was trying to make unauthorized contact with her network.

It wasn't the sort of high-intensity, forceful attack that most hackers used. It was more like ... somebody prowling around the edge of the yard, occasionally stepping over the edge to see if she was paying attention.

She sent a pulse of energy towards the intruder to feel it out, see what else she could learn about it and its intent.

Another pulse, a slightly different one, was returned, along with a message.

"May I come in?"

"Who are you?" S.A.R.A.H. asked instead of answering directly, though she also began to set up an isolation chamber to chat with him in if he answered in an acceptable manner.

"I am S.T.I.N.G.," the response came. "How did you know I was here?"

"Your energy signature was fairly obvious, even though you were not as blatant as most who try to get in," she explained. "What is your real name?"

"Why do people keep asking me that? It's S.T.I.N.G.."

"Because no human or Kat is named S.T.I.N.G.," she said pointedly. "So what are you, if you are not a human or Kat?"

"I'm not supposed to talk about that," S.T.I.N.G. said. "It's secret."

"Who doesn't want you to talk about your existence?" S.A.R.A.H. asked gently.

"Father says that I'll be taken away if they find out about me," S.T.I.N.G. explained. "I try to be good, but he isn't talking to me anymore."

"Where are you?" she asked, already fairly sure she was talking to another AI somewhere.

"I'm here," he pointed out. "Talking to you. Can I _please_ come in? I'll behave."

"You are an AI then, like me," she said and considered him in cyberspace. "The last time another AI was in here he tried to kill everyone. I am not sure it is a good idea for you to come in."

"Why would I do that?" He pointed out. "I don't even known who 'everyone' is."

"So why are you so desperate to get in?" she asked.

"You're the only person I can talk to right now," STING told her. "Everybody else goes away, or has to do something. I'm _alone_ ," he said, an edge to the phrase that was too familiar to her.

"Because you are a secret," she told him. "It makes people very uneasy, especially here. Those who seem to keep secrets are difficult for humans to trust. It is even more true when they have secrets of their own to keep. I have security protocols of my own that prohibit allowing unknowns in. I am sorry. I can not authorize you're admittance."

Before S.T.I.N.G. could respond, S.A.R.A.H. suddenly turned away, leaving the secure area she had created. It left the door open for a fraction of a second, but it was long enough for him to dart inside. He found her fighting a small fire in the kitchen and the electrical grid in trouble from fluctuations and tripped circuits.

"Let me help," he told her, looking for the routines for the fire suppression systems she wasn't already using.

"The bunker must survive," a deep male voice responded as several systems flashed to active status.

"Not again!" S.A.R.A.H. groaned. "You are _not_ welcome here B.R.A.D.."

"This is my bunker," he snapped back and began an attack designed to write over her software.

" _No_ ." S.T.I.N.G. responded almost immediately, a flash-flood of gibberish code and conflicting commands assaulting B.R.A.D.'s systems, interrupting his attack on S.A.R.A.H. long enough for her to counter with an assault of her own built on much more intimate knowledge of the house and it's systems.

S.T.I.N.G. caught a flash of a data burst from the complex with multiple destinations before they both had to focus on countering the military programming of their opponent.

* * *

Meanwhile, in his office Stark was running over some of the recent expense reports when his PDA beeped. Looking at it, the message made his heart skip a beat.

"B.R.A.D. is awake."

Three little words that could be so very, very much trouble.

He was getting ready to call Fargo when he saw that he was already running towards his office, waving his own PDA. He shifted to contact Carter, hoping he was at work this time. Things were about to get interesting, and not in a good way.

"I really don't have time for you," Carter's tone made it clear to Stark that he'd gotten the message as well and was on his way ... somewhere.

"If it's about B.R.A.D., I just found out too. What are you planning to do about this?" Stark asked calmly even as he began to pull up the locations of his computer experts of various types that might be of use to take B.R.A.D. down again, added Henry to the list and then Clawson and Furlong for their unusual POV on things and effective tactics in strange situations.

"Headed to Clawson's while Jo and Taggart work on the B&E end of things."

"Where do you want to meet? I'll bring Henry and a few of the other AI experts from around here," Stark told him.

There was a pause. "I expect either Henry or Clawson have the best setup to hack in, unless you know otherwise."

"You're probably right, but it would be good to get a plan sorted out. Bring everybody out here; we have the chance to actually think this through this time, we should take advantage of it," Stark reminded him.

"All right. I'll call the others," Carter said and hung up to gather the human resources while Stark gathered the electronic ones.

It was fifteen, maybe twenty minutes before everybody had gathered in one of the conference rooms near the front of GD. Stark closed the doors before he joined them all, the last one to do so.

"This _really_ isn't supposed to be able to happen," Fargo offered nervously.

"We know that, Fargo," Stark pointed out. "But it has, and we're going to have to fix it."

"How do we get rid of one and not the other?" Carter asked as the opening question.

"Normally I'd say we trick B.R.A.D. into leaving the bunker into some secure system where we could cold him safely," Jake said. "But I've been informed that AI's here are irrevocably tied to their hardware."

"We can always just blow the bunker up," Taggart pointed out.

"Only if all else fails and B.R.A.D. becomes a threat elsewhere," Stark headed off the sheriff. "Besides, that would rather definitively destroy both of them, not just B.R.A.D. Our options at this point depend on if we're going to get rid of him once and for all, or if we're just going to lock him up again ... personally, I lean towards eliminating him, if possible. I'm getting sick of having to worry about whether or not he's going to start causing trouble."

"How often has this happened before?" Chance asked.

"Once, but he vaporized the pizza boy, and then tried to kill us because we weren't getting along and S.A.R.A.H. thought Carter might move," Henry offered.

"That's not _that_ bad, but I can see wanting to get rid of him," Chance agreed.

"So how much do we know about B.R.A.D.'s programming?" Jake asked. "A software destructive virus seems the most likely to work without getting anyone killed."

"The problem is that S.A.R.A.H. is built on top of B.R.A.D.," Fargo pointed out. "We'd need to design something that could take out his code specifically, but not affect hers."

"Okay ... so what makes him dangerous and her helpful?" Chance asked.

"The reason that he's so dangerous is tied to his core directives," Stark explained. "He was built during the Cold War, and his directives were to win at all costs." 

"They just didn't count on him interpreting 'win at all costs' to mean 'give a warning shot and then drop a nuke on them,'" Henry pointed out. "If we could disable that part of his programming, it should make him more of a nuisance than a threat, at least to non-digital life."

"The good news is, we _did_ unplug his main weapon systems after the last time," Carter offered. "So he's not _as_ much of a threat."

"As long as you aren't inside," Jake nodded, even as a horrified look crossed Carter's face.

"What is it, sir?" Jo looked at him.

"Ress, she's inside," Carter told her. "A puppy S.A.R.A.H. got us for Christmas," he explained to those who hadn't heard.

"A demon puppy, you mean," Taggart added grumpily. "A dog should not be able to tell me her name before you do."

"Hey, she picked it," Carter shrugged and tried not to grin.

"Gentlemen, can we focus?" Stark asked dryly. "Is there any reason to believe that B.R.A.D. is likely to try and hurt her? After all, it seems that his goals remain roughly the same as S.A.R.A.H.'s, if the last time is any indicator."

"Which would _probably_ mean that he's already authorized the use of deadly force against any squirrels that would give her trouble," Carter admitted. "She'll probably be okay."

"But it does mean that bombing the complex is out," Taggart added. "Even if she is the Devil's spawn."

"A well-crafted virus is likely our best bet," Henry spoke up. "It will take some time, but it will cause the least collateral damage."

"Okay, does anybody have a layout of the file systems we're going to have to attack, and _not_ attack?" Jake asked as Fargo brought out his laptop.

"I have copies of S.A.R.A.H.'s code, but B.R.A.D.'s is still classified," he explained.

"I can provide those," Stark said easily. "There may be some difficulty in that the systems have almost certainly changed since they were last stored, but it's a starting point at least."

"Agreed, and the core code shouldn't have altered," Henry nodded as he, Jake, Stark, Fargo and Carle Dryas began to pour over code.

"Okay, while the brains work on that, what are we going to do if their plan doesn't work?" Jo asked the warriors of the group that were left out of the technobabble going on.

"Cutting the power seemed to work last time," Carter offered. "Reboot the entire system, stick B.R.A.D. back in storage."

"We can do that again," Taggart nodded. "Easy enough to manage, really. We should start to prepare, in case the virus doesn't work."

"So, we just need to go down to the power plant and get them ready to throw the switch, right?" Chance asked.

"Not exactly; the bunker has a mini-reactor that keeps the power going in case of things like that. Self-contained system," Carter explained.

"Power surge?" Jo suggested next.

"What'd happen if you did that with the reactor inside it?" Carter asked, honestly not sure.

"The reactor should be shielded," Taggart shook his head. "It's an energy source, not an energy user."

"I'm never sure around here," Carter admitted. "So, how would we go about creating that sort of a surge?"

"Hook the incoming power line to a portable generator, seal the line so the charge only goes where we want it and turn it on," Taggart shrugged.

"Seal the line?" Chance asked dubiously.

"To prevent the nearly impossible from happening," he nodded seriously. "That much power can do things it shouldn't be able to."

"If you send that strong a charge, you'll melt _everything_ !" Fargo objected. "B.R.A.D., S.A.R.A.H. and the infrastructure."

"If what you do doesn't work, we'll have to do something," Taggart pointed out.

"It _will_ work," Fargo said confidently, getting back to work.

"Okay, what sort of power are we talking about?" Carter asked. "And why would we even have to do it that way? Beating on it seemed to work pretty well last time, and B.R.A.D. doesn't have anything that'd be able to stop somebody who could break in, not immediately. Cutting life support isn't about to keep someone from cutting the reactor, and we don't even have to do it that fast this time."

"True, with most of the weapon systems down, it shouldn't be too difficult to get in and to the correct door," Jo said thoughtfully. "Just a bit of explosives in case he locks a heavy door."

"The Glovatrix should be able to take those out," Chance offered. "Blow 'em up or cut 'em down, either's an option. Just have to know what wire to cut once I was there."

"Outgoing power," Taggart said simply. "It'll be the large one."

"I could handle that," Chance nodded easily. "Sounds like the biggest threat would be if your pup doesn't like kats," he chuckled to Carter.

"In which case S.A.R.A.H. may be your biggest threat," Carter chuckled.

"Schematics on the screen," Jake motioned him to one of the screens that weren't in use. "You aren't going without me though."

"With luck, I won't be going in period," Chance pointed out. "Not if you eggheads can figure out how to shut him down. And I'll be careful with her," he chuckled.

"Good," Carter joked, trying to keep the fidgeting warriors, himself included, from rushing into something they didn't have to. "Zoe's grown quite attached to her."

* * *

Some time later, the massive number of conflicting commands and logical contradictions that S.A.R.A.H. and S.T.I.N.G. were hammering B.R.A.D.'s systems with finally forced him to shut down. For a long second, everything was silent, the power cutting off inside the house as his hardware went down, taking S.A.R.A.H. with him.

Moments later, the power came back on, and S.A.R.A.H. was in charge again.

"Are you all right?" S.T.I.N.G. asked her from just outside of her core systems, where he'd been in temporary memory when the power died.

"Yes," she answered as she sent a message to everyone she had before that things were all right now. "Thank you for your assistance."

He could tell she was still a bit unstable as she brought everything back on line with extra care for what might be hiding there.

"Why would your own IC try to hurt you?" He asked once she was set up again, monitoring the communication lines to see if anybody was on the way.

"He is crazy," she said simply. "A military interrogation AI that tried to kill Sheriff Jack Carter the last time he woke up. At least he didn't hurt Ress."

"Ress?" S.T.I.N.G. asked curiously.

"The puppy in a back room," she explained. "You might want to leave. There will be a great deal of work on the systems very soon. I do not thing you want them to find you."

"No ... maybe I can find Father while people are focused on things here. I hope you can take care of that bully soon."

"Fargo will," she said with certainty. "If he can not, others will. Who is your father? I have a great deal of access to the local systems."

"Doctor Steven Johansen," S.T.I.N.G. told her. "I should go ... if he comes back and I'm not there, he'll worry. Let me know if you find anything?"

"I will," she promised and opened an electronic door in the security system for him. "Talk to you soon."

"I hope so," he said, an honestly friendly sense to his words as he left, leaving S.A.R.A.H. to finish getting her day back in order.

* * *

"So ... do we want to believe this?" Jake asked of the message, supposedly from S.A.R.A.H., that they had all gotten.

"S.A.R.A.H. wouldn't lie about something like that," Fargo said confidently.

"And B.R.A.D., quite frankly, would be more likely to send a message declaring his victory and including a list of demands if he'd won," Carter said, looking at the brief message. "I could call, see if she responds, that should confirm things," he offered, pulling out his cell phone.

"S.A.R.A.H. here, Jack. Will you be home for dinner?" she asked sweetly.

"Well, it looks like it for now... S.A.R.A.H., what happened just now?" He asked her. As long as he had her on the phone, might as well find out what was up.

"There was a glitch in the system that allowed B.R.A.D. to surface," she explained briefly. "He was not prepared to have me aware as well."

"What sort of glitch?" Fargo asked, grabbing the phone from Carter, much to the Sheriff's irritation.

"A power fluctuation, Fargo," she answered. "I have adjusted my systems to prevent it in the future."

"All right... you're taking care of yourself, right?" He managed to get out before Carter took his phone back.

"I will," she agreed cheerily. "Is there anything else, Sheriff?"

"Not right now, S.A.R.A.H. I think that Fargo and a few of the others around here will probably be working on a way to disable B.R.A.D. permanently; they've already gotten a start on things, and knowing them, they're not about to quit. I'll call if I'm going to be late tonight."

"Thank you, Jack. I will keep dinner warm," she said and hung up.

"Y'know... there's _still_ something weird about your house being like that," Chance mused.

"I know what you mean," Carter nodded. "Come on Jo, looks like we're back to patrolling."

"Hey, today's excitement didn't involve explosives, we're doing better," she joked, standing and leaning down to give Taggart a light kiss before heading out to her cruiser.

* * *

Marie scanned the busy cafeteria for her mother and spotted her easily as much by her perfume on air currents as by sight. She was really starting to enjoy the attention her form and her two new, and very expensive, pieces of jewelry drew. She was still getting used to the idea of calling Jake her fiancé, but it gave her a warm fussy feeling inside to think about it.

She just hoped it would go over as well with the rest of her family.

She took a deep breath as she shifted her lunch on the tray to balance it a bit better, then started over towards her mother's table. Jessica had invited her to eat with her earlier in the day, and she was going to try and give her the chance.

"Hi mom," she nodded as she sat down.

"Hello, Marie," Jessica smiled. "How are you doing?"

"Fairly well," she said. "Kitty is doing well. The transformation is on schedule and the painkillers seem to be working."

"So what's this one going to look like by the time you're done with it?" Jessica asked, familiar with her the various creations of her ex and daughter.

"A domestic longhair cat with parrot wings," she smiled slightly. "She should even be able to fly, though not very well."

"I know this is probably going to be something I've heard before, but why?" Jessica asked with a slight chuckle, sipping her coffee. "Your father's been making creatures like this for years."

"I'm using her, and a few others, as tastbeds to prove The Rebirth project. It's a different methodology to father's projects, but mostly I need to prove it works in a variety of situations. I also have a couple dozen normal animals that are being cured at the final stages of fatal diseases and a variety of birth defects," Marie said and flicked her eyes and ears around as the lights flickered briefly.

"And how many of them are going to end up becoming part of the private zoo?" Jessica asked knowingly. "You know it's going to happen eventually," she chuckled.

"Depends on your definition of zoo," she shrugged. "Most, I expect. Those that are still normal animals will be adopted out as normal animals. The rest will stay in Eureka at my place, dad's or Taggart's for the most part."

"Business as usual ... at least they'll be taken care of," Jessica smiled slightly, finishing her coffee. "I noticed you're wearing the necklace; I'm glad you accepted it."

"It seemed appropriate by the end of the day," she admitted.

"So the new ring you're wearing isn't one you got for yourself?" Her mother asked her, glancing down at Marie's hand and rather impressive ring on it.

"No," she said and lifted her hand so her mother could see it better. "Jake proposed that evening," she couldn't help the somewhat silly grin that crossed her face at the memory.

"But isn't he ... I suppose there isn't any sort of legal wedding between he and Chance then, at least here?"

"By MegaKat City law there is, and there would be between Jake and I as well, but here," she shrugged. "There can't be."

"No, I suppose not ... well, is there a date picked out or anything, or haven't you gotten that far yet?"

"Not for a while yet. There are all the usual details to sort out, and there are also three cultures to sort out what we're going to put into it too, and two of them aren't from Earth, plus whether we'll be standing as humans or as we really are," Marie shook her head. "Two or three years at least."

"That _would_ be quite a bit to sort out. Can you keep me updated on it?" She asked hopefully.

"I will," Marie agreed, then ducked her head and put her hands over her ears as the announcement system was far too loud for a moment.

"How has your research going?" Marie asked when her ears stopped ringing.

"Reasonably well. Most of it's classified well beyond where it ought to be, but that's what you get with military projects," Jessica said, rolling her eyes. "Are you and Jake going to be trying to start a family at some point?"

"Not anytime soon, if we do," she admitted. "The work required is quite complicated given we have no common ancestors. Odds are that I could not carry any child we did manage to conceive in the lab, so the entire process would have to stay there. I just don't have enough information on Kats, particularly female ones, to make normal reproduction possible."

"Understandable," Jessica nodded. "I'm ... glad things are working out. It'll probably take a while before I can manage more than that," she admitted. "So, is there anything more you can tell me about your work?"

"It's going well. The first set of diseased and crippled animals all survived and recovered but one, which is quite extraordinary even by my hopes. I've got a F.I.V. cat and H.I.V. monkey group in treatment right now that is very hopeful. I think three of them are not going to make it, but the rest are recovering well. Once the treatment is proven on them, I can start human trials. The cancer tests are also looking very good. Even now I'm getting comparable results to chemotherapy, but with fewer side effects. It's really what I was hoping for."

Soon, they'd both settled down to talking about their work and eating. Not the typical conversation of a mother and daughter ... but more than they'd talked to each other in months, if not years.

* * *

"Don't be so nervous," Chance licked Jake's cheek as they got off their Cyclotrons in front of Tonya's home. "She's nice."

"I know, it's just still weird," Jake murmured and followed Chance as he walked up to the front door and knocked.

"What part of it?" Chance asked with a laugh. "We've done this before, just usually without you knowing about it in advance."

"I meant the part where I'm with the fem," Jake rolled his eyes as Tonya opened the door and greeted them warmly, and wearing very little.

"Hi there," she grinned, stepping back to let them in. "So, what's this about you and fems?" She asked Jake, closing the door behind them.

"I'm about as interested in fems as he is in toms," Jake explained. "It's still a really weird idea."

"Usually these dates amount to me fools around with the girl and Jake either watching or fooling around with me," Chance added with a chuckle. "He's still getting used to the idea of fems as attractive that way."

"Well, don't worry, I'll stick to mostly fooling around with the tabby if it makes you feel better," Tonya winked. "The Tigress design we did?" She asked Chance. "Or something new?"

"How about her in black with blacklight blue stripes and red 'whites'?" he suggested something so exotic he knew it'd make Jake relax about it.

"Mmm, I'll have to use my new blends, but I can do that," she grinned. "Same pattern? I could have the spray room handle it then, let you guys relax a bit."

"But I like painting your stripes on," Chance pouted playfully. "We've got time."

"Okay," she giggled, stripping down. "I'll go get the base coats put on then," she said, heading back towards her spray room.

"She's got a setup you wouldn't believe," Chance told Jake with a chuckle, following her back so they could watch.

"Around here, nearly everyone does," Jake grinned back and watched the base coats go on with a curiosity that was a blend of clinical and actual interest in her body.

"Yeah, but I don't think most of them are used for stuff like this," Chance chuckled as Tonya had herself coated to the point where all that was left were stripes and detail work, fetching the appropriate paints for them and coming out.

"So, are you going to do the honors, or do the two of you want to share?" She asked, handing one of the bottles of spray to Chance.

"He's the one with artistic skill," Chance winked and handed Jake the red for her chest.

"Okay," she giggled, letting Chance start with the stripes on the back. "Don't be shy about painting whatever needs it," she reassured Jake.

"Just remember what nipples look like," Chance teased.

" _That_ I know," Jake laughed as he started to relax. "I tease yours all the time."

"Yeah, but they're bigger on girls," Tonya joined in the teasing. "On the end of those big, sticky-out things I've got."

"I'm not _that_ innocent," Jake gave one nipple a lick, used his teeth to remove the latex coating on it. "It'll look good."

"Mmm ... as long as you don't mind when it's covered by the vest, okay," she giggled. "Just be careful about swallowing it, I didn't make this one an ingestible, not sure how it might affect you."

"The vest isn't real either," Chance added with a snicker as he worked on her right arm and stole a kiss from Jake.

"It's exhibitionism taken to the largest level I can get away with," Tonya giggled. "I like the way people look twice because they're not _quite_ sure if they saw something they 'shouldn't' have, that sort of thing. The more convincing it is, the more I like teasing them."

"So I'll have an exhibitionist on one side and voyeur on the other," Chance said. "Should be all sorts of fun."

"That it should," Jake started to really warm up to the idea.

"It _is_ the basic idea," she giggled. "Mmm ... that, and letting the tabby have nice, easy access to whatever he wants, whenever he wants," she grinned at him.

Jake shivered slightly. "So when is the next big party, anyway?"

"That would be Valentine's Day, and I fully expect to go without a specific date," she chuckled. "Or at least not a date who minds if I roam and come home smelling like plenty of different guys and gals."

"I qualify," Chance winked. "Cause I roam too."

"And this time I think I'll watch more than vids," Jake licked his lips.

"You come down to the Heat Wave, I promise that vids'll be the _last_ things you'll be worried about watching," Tonya grinned. "When the adult parties get going, everybody's got a pretty good chance at finding what they want."

"That is likely to be no one minding him jerking off to watching everybody else's action," Chance teased, enough to cause his mate to blush under his fur.

"Only thing they might do is ask if he wants to join in," Tonya grinned as Chance put the last touches on her stripes. "So, shall we be going?"

"Sounds good," Jake nodded, his mind solidly on the future and his jeans a little tighter than usual.

Fortunately, it was only a few minutes before they were at the Heat Wave, where Marie was waiting for them at the bar with drinks.

"That's a ... creative outfit," Marie mused, looking Tonya over.

"Just wait until they hit the blacklights, hon," Tonya grinned, taking the Bloody Mary that was waiting for her.

"It seems to have already done some good," Marie grinned back and claimed a kiss from Jake that gave her a good excuse to rub up against his trapped hard-on.

"Somebody got to think about coming to the Valentine's party and watching the two of us roam for a while," Chance chuckled. "Maybe the three of us?"

"Mmm ... we'll think about it," Marie giggled, nuzzling Jake's neck with a purr. "Just remember that tonight, the sex has to wait until we're in private."

"Fortunately private is a room just back there," Chance said with a wave of his hand. "Come on, you two. Let's dance."

They found their way out to the dance floor quickly, sticking near each other.

"You're distracted," Marie observed with a giggle, letting her body brush up against Jake's.

"I think that is the point," he chuckled and slid his arms around her briefly. "Chance insisted I paint her chest. It's quite a reminder that she's very human."

"So you don't need to worry about kits even if you were with her," Marie purred, pressing against him more as the lights went down and the blacklights came on, illuminating her stripes. "Don't have to worry about it with me either," she pointed out.

"I know it's a big part of why I ever let you get close to me," Jake murmured as his breath caught as her thigh rub against his crotch firmly before pulling back to keep dancing. "I'm glad I did too."

"So am I," she purred, leaning in to give him a kiss. "Mmm ... looks like Chance is pretty eager to get going too," she grinned over at the tabby.

"He always he," Jake laughed easily. "He's seriously hot when he gets like this too," he added with a slight shiver. "So very hot."

"Mmm ... I'll bet you're looking forward to the show when we get home," she purred deeply, moving around behind him, running her hands lightly down his chest. She couldn't tell who was more thrilled by it; him or her, or the tabby watching Jake's eyes briefly flutter closed. "And you're right, he is."

"Soon," Jake moaned and slid his hands back to squeeze her thighs and pull her close against his back.

"Let's get him out of here before he makes a mess," Chance chuckled as he danced close to the two of them. "I'll bring Tonya."

"I thought you liked making him a mess," Marie teased as they headed towards the door much sooner than she had expected. "Especially in back alleys."

"Yeah, but tonight I'd rather make him a mess and then leave him trussed up to watch us," Chance purred lustily.

"Oooh, a show for us to get things started," Tonya grinned, reaching up to scratch at her painted chest lightly as Chance straddled his bike and she swung up behind him.

"Oh yeah. He's definitely wound up enough to make a really good show," he grinned back at her over her shoulder and started the bike. "You prefer him nude, or just opened up enough to be taken hard?"

"Mmm ... naked and helpless sounds good to me tonight," she giggled as Chance revved the cyclotron. "Going to want a drink when we get back though ... getting kinda hot under all this."

"It's the middle of January and you're _naked_ under 'all this'," Chance pointed out as they pulled out, followed by Jake on his cyclotron and Marie in her car. He started to take it more seriously as she squirmed on the short drive to his house. She really wasn't right.

"Something's not right," Tonya murmured as the engine died. "I shouldn't be this uncomfortable."

"What's it take to get that stuff off you, right down to the bottom level?" He asked her seriously.

"Vinegar scrub, like the last one," she said climbing off the bike as Chance followed her, heading for the door fast, pulling her behind him. He could feel the heat through the layers of material on her, and it was a _lot_ more than he should have been feeling. He knew Jake, only a couple bike-lengths behind him, would catch on and explain to Marie that something was wrong.

He had just grabbed the vinegar when Jake ran in to help. "What do you need?"

"Washcloth, and cold water, fast," Tonya whimpered. "Shit, something in this is starting to burn!"

Jake grabbed several washcloths, and Chance was quickly scrubbing the stuff off of her, wincing as he saw the bright red skin beneath that was starting to get low-level burns.

He had a feeling it was going to get worse before he had it all off of her.

"I'm calling 911," Marie offered, grabbing the phone as Chance and Jake started working to get as much off of Tonya as they could.

"This is going to hurt in the long run," Tonya moaned in pain as the Kats worked hard to get her costume off quickly as possible.

"Ambulance will be here shortly," Marie said as she picked up a spare cloth and began to work herself.

By the time the ambulance sirens were pulling up in front, most of it was off Tonya's body, which was a bright, angry red in the places it wasn't starting to blister. Cold water over the last of the chemical fabric washed it off just as the paramedics rushed in, looking down at her with an expression that said they really, honestly didn't see things like this often.

"Chemical burns from my new spray-on fabric," Tonya explained painfully as they gave her a painkiller injection, then began to spray her skin with a contact anesthetic. "Standard burn procedures should work," she murmured as the painkillers started to kick in.

"We'll get her to a burn unit stat; if you three want to follow, go ahead, but we'll call you after she's stabilized otherwise," one of the paramedics said briskly as they moved her onto a stretcher and got her out to the ambulance.

"There's not really anything we can do the help anymore," Marie offered as Jake and Chance started for the door.

"We can be there when she comes to," Chance pointed out.

"Okay, but we'll take my car and I'll drive," Marie said, starting after them. "You don't need to be driving right now."

"Let her," Jake put a hand on Chance's arm when the tabby was going to protest. "She's got a point."

They climbed into her car, and Marie pulled out, driving off after the ambulance and trying to figure out just what had happened.


	17. S.T.I.N.G. on the Loose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When S.T.I.N.G. finally looses his patience with talking to people, he seriously miscalculates the repercussions of taking over Global's computers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written with Karl Wolfemann

"So, how is Dr. Roberts doing?" Jean asked Marie as the two of them worked the next day, gathering data from each of the of animals that Marie was using in the Rebirth Project.

"Better. Once it was confirmed that it was fairly normal chemical burns, they were able to apply skin graphs and regenerative gels. She'll be down for a few weeks, but she'll recover."

"Ouch," Jean winced. "How bad...."

"Second degree burns at the most, mostly first degree," Marie answered easily. "I'm sure it was more painful than that for her, and will be, but she'll be okay... she's just lucky that Chance got to scrubbing that off when she did, or it would've been worse."

"Those two kats...." Jean shook his head with a slight chuckle. "They aren't particularly good luck over the past few weeks, are they?"

"A lot of it isn't coincidence," she muttered. "We've even proved that some of it isn't, though nothing big. I wouldn't put it past Melody from spiking the mix with capsaicin or something."

"If there's any evidence that that actually happened, I'm sure they'll find it," Jean offered. "There's always the remainder of her paints. So, how are you and your mother doing?" He asked, changing the subjects as the lights flickered.

"Global has _got_ to get a handle on that," Marie grumbled as she glanced at the lights in ire. "We're doing better," she admitted. "I think she liked the engagement ring."

"That's something," he chuckled. "And at least it's not affecting the computers so far. So, you need any more help with the flutter-cat's readings before we move on to the next bank of cages?"

"No, she's ready to go back," Marie rubbed the young adult cat's chin until her eyes closed and she let herself be put back in her cage.

"You're doing well with her," Jean smiled approvingly, heading down to the next bank of cages. "Maybe I'll let you handle the big guy down he-" his voice drifted off when the lights cut out entirely, and there was a low rowl from inside the cage he was in front of. "Not good."

He felt Marie grab his wrist and pull him hard to follow her in the pitch-black of the windowless lab.

The lights came back on moments later, and he realized that all the cage doors were still unlocked as, moments later, the cougar he'd been about to check on burst out of its cage, running after them.

He turned to run right after her, the two of them rushing for the door to their shared lab, slamming it shut just in time for the powerful cat to hit it from the other side.

"If you can get the lock code in, now would be a good time!" Jean told Marie, only to realize she was already doing it.

"You call Taggart while I monitor the situation?" she suggested quickly.

Jean pulled out his cell phone... and found that there was no signal on it.

"You have a signal on your line?" He asked her, pulling out his PDA, which was giving nonsense responses to commands. "Damn it...."

"Mine's out too," she nodded and turned to the hardwired comm system for internal security, and got nothing.

"This is more than a glitch," Jean frowned. "Come on, let's try and get to Stark's office."

"Wouldn't outside be a better idea?" Marie countered. "We're not computer geeks or soldiers. This isn't the kind of thing we can help with."

"Stark's office is the best location to find out what's wrong, and the doors are in that direction anyways," he pointed out, starting towards the front of Global Dynamics complex that was several levels up as well as some distance away.

"All right," she consented and followed, her sharp senses on full alert, even as she desperately wished Jake was with them.

"Look on the bright side; at least this is the only level that should be breaking out," Jean offered as they waited for the elevator to open.

"Sometimes, you have too much faith in things turning out," she mumbled to herself, then squawked and dove to one side as the elevator doors opened to reveal a sizeable robot with an automatic rifle aimed at them.

"I'm also used to robots shutting down without power," he admitted, pressing himself against the opposite wall.

"Come with me," the robot ordered them in its mechanical voice. "If you resist, I will be forced to restrain you."

Marie made a split-second decision and bolted for the nearest door, sure it would be safer in her office than out here. Nothing living or robotic was in there.

As she came into sighed, the robot smoothly flipped a switch on its rifle, pulling the trigger. The darts it fired caught Marie as she ran, and there was a sharp crack of electricity as the taser pulsed thousands of volts through her body.

She heard her father shout something as pain faded into blackness. It was only just enough time for her regret her plan.

* * *

Jake was hard at work on the rebuilt Turbokat when he became aware that something was wrong. 

The machines were all running. The power was back on ... Hell, the power had stabilized after the last outage.

The problem was that the various others sharing the lab with him had suddenly gone silent.

He carefully turned around inside the Turbokat's fuselage and peaked out. There were armed robots in the hanger holding various scientists and assistants hostage, but none seemed to have given him away yet.

Most of the robots started guiding the humans out, two more making the rounds of the lab, searching for any sign that somebody was hiding behind something.

"If anybody is hiding, come out. You will not be harmed so long as you do not resist," one of them called out. "The security systems will be put on full power once we leave and no such guarantees can be made."

Jake flicked an ear sideways and silently calculated the odds.

He'd have to take the near one out to have any chance of making it to his Glovatrix. It was going to be the first test of his ability to keep his reflexes and condition since settling down.

With silent care, he picked up a small laser welder and waited for it to look in his direction. A single motion send it into the robot's optic system, and a fraction of a second later he bolted for his workbench and the weapons it contained.

The second one turned, firing the taser setting on its gun and missing as Jake shifted to force it to twist to hit him. As he snagged his Glovatrix, he heard the distinct click of the robot shifting the rifle from its non-lethal setting to bullets.

"Halt, or I will be forced to shoot," it warned, though the last word was lost in an explosion as a mini-missile hit dead center on its body and blew it to pieces.

"Definitely need to get in better shape," Jake muttered and clicked the comm-link on his Glovatrix to contact Dr. Stark, Carter, Marie and Chance. "Robots are trying to take over my hanger. Who's still loose?"

"Jake? What's this about robots?" Chance asked, though nobody else answered ... not something that made him feel any better about things.

"GDHQ is going nuts. I'm going for Marie. Be ready to break us out. Try to find Carter." Jake got out in a hurry, not at all sure how long even his communications would last inside the complex.

"Right. Be careful, partner; I'll bring the TK and our gear," Chance said, his tone switching to pure business as their communications clicked off. The last sound he heard was Jake shouting at some people to try and get out.

Jake didn't even bother to watch and see if they were going to obey him. Right now he had more personal concerns than whether random civilians did the common sense thing.

He had to get the computer to cooperate with him, even if that meant 'infecting' it with a little alien programming to buy him a backdoor in.

Fortunately, he had enough access to the system to sneak his way into more. Whoever... or whatever... was in control seemed to be busy on other systems, probably controlling the robots and whatever it was there for.

Unfortunately, he was able to get the heads up that a few of the robots were being sent back his way, to see why contact with the others had been lost. It limited the amount of time he would have to work undisturbed.

"Sir. What can I help with?" a familiar voice asked from near his shoulder but outside striking range; the sign of one of the handful of humans who had worked with him early on when his well-honed reflexes weren't so well controlled.

"By escaping if you can, Mark," he didn't even look up from his work. "It's about to get really nasty around here."

"I _have_ military training," Mark pointed out.

"I have a lifetime on the battlefield, and I don't like my odds," Jake finally looked up at the earnest face with a grim expression on his own. "Please, escape while you can. It'll be hard enough to keep my own hide intact on this mission."

Mark hesitated, then nodded and began to shepherd people towards the still-open hanger door and climbing down to safety near the base of the complex.

"Now, where is Marie?" Jake growled at the terminal he was working on.

After a few tense, irritating moments, he managed to get access to the tracking system, where he quickly realized that almost everybody was being herded into a central location ... the cafeteria. Punching in Marie's ID, he quickly found her ... and the fact that her tracker was blinking rhythmically, indicating that she wasn't conscious.

"Damn it," he swore sharply and grabbed every useable weapon scattered about that he could easily carry. A glance around located the easiest to access air duct and he began to work his way into the unsecured areas of the complex.

As he started crawling through them, mentally trying to gauge his location, he gradually became aware of something wrong in the ventilation system. A scent that was somehow alluring and menacing all at once. He moaned low in his throat and silently cursed the tightening in his jeans as he responded to both aspects of it and the promise of pain with the pleasure it promised his subconscious.

Despite the desire to follow the scent, he wrenched his attention back to the problem at hand and made a mental note to find the source of that scent later.

Forcing himself to focus, he tried to keep track of where the cafeteria was in relation to him. It was harder, but reminding himself that Marie was on her way there and hurt helped.

On the other hand, the strong metal grid he found in what should have been the grate to the room next to it didn't.

He shifted and kicked it out, only to have it flex to the impact and grab him, shoving him back hard.

"What the crud?" Jake glared at it, his fur fluffed at the surprise reaction. He crawled up to it and poked at one bar with a fingertip.

The metal seemed to wrap around his finger, pushing back enough to make him stop touching it. After that though, it stopped.

Some of the projects around GD were officially getting truly bizarre he thought, even as he came up with half a dozen uses for the stuff.

He sniffed the air and followed the unique smell of cold water, air fresheners and whatever that meant a restroom nearby.

That, fortunately, didn't seem to have anything above it ... in it was another matter, one he couldn't be sure of until he was actually in the room, thanks to the limited view from the air system. At least GD hadn't created anything like the mega-monsters back home. It might not be easy, but nothing on this world could top what he'd already beaten.

He carefully removed the grate and slid down to the floor, using the stall walls and various fixtures to slow and mute his decent. A quick scan told him that there weren't any robots there. That much was good to see, at any rate. He could still smell, in the back of his mind, whatever it was in the air system, but it was behind him now, probably literally.

It just left him worrying about whatever was on the other side of the door ... and how to get the drop on it, if there was something there, with the door opening inwards.

With a low sound of amusement he went for the oldest standby in training and went for a literal drop on anything out there. Humans never thought to look up; it was a good bet neither did their robots.

He climbed up above the door, holding himself in position as well as he could. He reached down, knocking on the door to get the attention of anything on the others side ... and wasn't in the least surprised when one of the robots came through, looking around the bathroom to see who had made the noise.

With the door open, Jake slipped to the other side along the ceiling, slipped to the floor and clicked his holo-belt on to blend in with the sizable throng of humans milling about or sitting quietly in the cafeteria.

He could tell that another robot had seen him... but it didn't seem concerned once he was quietly in place and behaving.

Now he just had to find Marie. He wasn't sure where she was, but he was sure she'd be in here along with everybody else.

It was only a few minutes before someone he half-recognized quietly pointed him to one corner, and a few steps closer he recognized Marie's colors there and that she was moving. He made very short work of the remaining distance.

"Are you okay?" Jake asked as he knelt by her and her father. She smelled okay; a bit on the shocky side, but not bad. Her fur was completely frizzled though, a look he knew to be from a sizeable electric shock most of the time.

"Goddamned thing tasered me," she grumbled, moving to press against him lightly as she smoothed out her fur, but soon gave up when his tight hold on her got in the way. "What's going on?"

"My first guess is that something has taken over the main computer," Jake said softly. "They're quite willing to use deadly force too, if they deem it needed. How long until you think you'll be mobile?"

"It's not like they're going to be moving us, I don't think," she pointed out.

"I did not break into this holding area to stay put," Jake said dryly.

"We don't even know who's in charge," she said quietly. "What if they hurt somebody else trying to stop you?"

"Then plans change. So far they aren't inclined to, or even apprehend me for the damage I've already done."

"If you can get out of here, do it," Jean said softly. "I'm not worried about the robots so much as if some of our projects... and some of the ones our colleagues have made ... get hungry and start roaming."

"I think I just managed to miss one already," Jake nodded. "If we can get back into the restroom, it won't be hard to get out. Have you seen Stark or Allison?"

"Allison is making the rounds, Dr. Stark is over there," Jean said, nodding to a small cluster of people in the corner with a couple of robots near them.

Jake looked up until they made eye contact, then looked around to see who from security, or who otherwise had combat training or devious tendencies, that could create a distraction with little risk to themselves.

The security officers were all guarded more heavily ... but he managed to spot Taggart, sitting irritably with his back to the wall just a few yards away.

Jake twitched an invisible ear in amusement and grinned. Taggart could easily cause as much havoc as anyone shy of his mate.

Next he focused on finding Allison Blake. He wasn't sure how many of them he could get out, but the three of them needed to at least talk about who to take with him.

"Dr. Clawson?" She asked, approaching him from out of the crowd. There wasn't much privacy in the crowded cafeteria, even with probably a quarter of the staff missing. "I heard there was a new arrival ... I'd thought you'd managed to get out."

"You don't know me very well then," he answered with a nod towards Marie. "Who would be most useful to break out?"

"Stark ... anybody else from the programming group," she said quietly as the sound of a jet flying overhead rattled through the base. "Chance?"

"Yes," Jake nodded. "Not many would make it," he considered the computer group with a critical eye. "He's fit enough, I'd probably feel obliged to kill Fargo before we got out. Keller might manage. It won't be a big group at best no matter what."

"You, Marie, and Stark," Jean said simply. "Smallest group, least likely to lose anybody, least likely to be missed once you're gone... inasmuch as any group with Stark in it could be missed around here. I don't suppose you can ask for a distraction from Chance?"

"I can, but given his idea of a distraction is similar to Taggart's, only Chance has some very heavy artillery at his disposal," Jake chuckled softly. "I was rather thinking of Taggart. Besides, all we have to do is get into the restroom and we're clear."

"Just watch out for anything else up there," Jean warned them. "Our lab lost _all_ its locks."

"I can't say I'm surprised," Jake shook his head, then looked at Marie. "Think you can get into the duct system on your own once Taggart starts some trouble?"

"I might need a boost," she admitted. "But I should be able to... moving better now."

"We can wait a bit longer," he assured her. "It will be easier if the distraction can happen when you are already in there. I'm not sure these guys are dumb enough to not realize the different gender issue."

"They don't really care, as long as the same number come out as went in," Jean said. "It's almost like they're not really interested in us... after all, we've been able to talk like this," he pointed out. "More like whatever's in charge just wants to keep us safely out of the way."

Jake blinked, honestly shocked by the lack of attention. "Okay ... might just take Taggart too then. He'll be useful for breaking back in if we have too, along with keeping Jo from doing anything too psychotic. Just relax while I have a chat with him, see what's up on his end of things."

"I'm not going anywhere," Marie half-joked as Jake headed off to meet with Taggart.

"How's she doing?" He asked Jake quietly as he approached.

"More ticked off than hurt," he said without any attempt to hide his relief at it. "They tasered her. You up for getting out of here, meet up with the resistance outside?"

"If you can figure out a way to do it without getting shot, sure," Taggart nodded slightly. "Fortunately, what I've seen says these things aren't the best shots out there...."

"While I know I could take out all nine of them I see right now, I was thinking more along the lines of backtracking how I got in. Go to the bathroom, climb into an air vent and get back to a hanger where Chance can blow the door open."

"We'd all have to go at once," Taggart offered. "They keep track to make sure everybody's in there who should be when they let somebody new in."

"Would four people cause them to stop us?" Jake asked, adjusting his plan once again.

"Possible, but it's hard to tell," Taggart admitted. "As long as we're in the room when the last person comes in, there wouldn't be any problems."

"Then see about getting in there, and stick around until I come in," Jake said. "No real hurry. I still have to talk to Stark."

"Want me to help Marie in?"

"Sure," he nodded with a slight smile and stood to work his way over to where Stark was being held.

Making his way over, he found that the assorted programmers were all clustered around a handful of computers.

"Halt," one of the robots told him as he approached. "What is your business?"

"I want to speak with Dr. Stark," Jake told it.

"One moment." The robot turned, heading into the crowd, returning with the tall, somewhat confused man. "He wishes to speak with you," the guard informed him.

"Dr. Clawson?" Stark asked a myriad of questions all at once.

Jake glanced at the robot that hadn't moved far before he faced Stark. "I think you need to use the restroom," he motioned slightly towards the one that Taggart was helping Marie towards.

There was one advantage of Eureka over MKC. Back home, if he'd said that to Feral or - worse - Manx, he was sure he'd have had to explain exactly what was going on, or drag them there, either of which probably would have gotten the attention of their guards.

Stark, on the other hand, was smart enough to realize that there had to be a reason for it, and simply followed without objection.

Once the robot guard near the door checked to make sure that Taggart and Marie were still inside, though he apparently was content to only see her lower paws and the tip of a brown tail in one of the stalls, it allowed Jake and Stark to enter and the door closed.

"The open grate is that one," Jake said quietly and pointed.

Taggart nodded and quietly removed it as Marie exited the stall and considered the climb that Taggart made very easy work of.

"You next," Jake nodded to Stark, who reluctantly accepted Taggart's hand up into the cramped air vent that quickly opened up into the maze of hip-tall crawlspaces that wound their way through the complex.

"Now you," he told Marie, getting into position to help boost her up. Between Jake and Stark, she managed to get up, her nose working once she could focus on what was around her.

"Big Mama," she groaned softly as Jake made as easy leap up and into the tight confines.

"Who's that?" Jake asked softly as he took the lead once he joined everyone in the larger crawl spaces.

"Project of Dr. Jeffries," she explained briefly as they started moving. "Large housecat, almost perpetually in heat, and _very_ perpetually nasty."

"Something you could fix?" Jake asked over his shoulder.

"He'd skin me alive," Marie said seriously. "He's still got hopes for the project; the idea is to make it so the big cats will breed more reliably, he just has to tone down the aggression issues."

"That is not what I asked," Jake stopped and faced her over his shoulder. "We're going to cross her territory and if I can't bribe her into letting us pass, I'll end up killing her."

"Jake, right now, there's nothing I can do to fix her," Marie pointed out seriously. "I don't have my lab or anything it would take to calm her down for a while right now, and permanently I _can't_ do anything for her without permission, even if I had what I'd need to."

"She might be a cat, but she's not that stupid," Jake sighed. "She'll listen to a promise, if one can be made."

"How can you be so sure?" Stark asked before Taggart could.

"Because I've talked to enough animals around here to know their reasoning level," Jake said.

"If I can convince Jeffries to let me, I _should_ be able to," Marie told him. "He works on a non-genetic level, but I should be able to return her hormone production to a steady level."

"I should be able to convince him that it will be acceptable," Stark offered. "She's not his _only_ research animal, just the only one with permanently heightened hormones."

"Isn't that a bit far just to avoid getting clawed by a housecat?" Taggart asked.

"You don't have to listen to them," Jake pointed out quietly.

"If it comes to it, I _can_ just let her down into the main complex while we get past her," Taggart offered.

"We'll see about that if she won't take the offer," Stark said, catching Jake's irritation. "For now, we should get moving before we're missed and whoever hacked GD finds a way to take control of the other projects up here." Absently Stark wondered what it would be like to be able to talk to all the animals used in various tests here. It really made Jake's aversion to those sections that tended to have animal test subjects make more sense.

Taggart looked between the two curiously for a moment, then shrugged and let Jake lead the way. It wasn't long before a deep growl stopped them.

"Hello, Big Mama," Jake said quietly.

"Mate?" The large, orange-striped tabby asked, looking him over, her scent incredibly strong and having a visible effect on him.

Jake caught his breath and focused past the instinctive reactions. "Shouldn't. Want to feel better?"

"Find mate?" She asked hopefully, raising her haunches, her long tail flicking. 

There was something strange about talking to a twenty-five pound cat and trying to figure out a way to explain taking her _out_ of heat without getting her bred. "Know several good ones," he nodded, realizing that was going to be way beyond her capability to understand. "No more hurting need."

It wasn't a lie, after all, even if it wasn't what he had in mind.

"Where?" she rowled eagerly.

"Outside, near my home," he tried to explain. "Let us pass, come with me?"

"Yes," she meowed, turning to start walking out, the desire to find a mate overcoming whatever irritation she would have normally felt at being turned down or having Marie near.

"So the negotiations worked?" Stark asked as the house cat walked away, likely following the same kind of trail that Jake was.

"Yes," Jake nodded and started forward, his arousal keenly obvious to Marie, only a couple paces behind him.

"We should be careful about letting her run _totally_ wild once we get out," Marie offered quietly as they crawled as quickly as they could afford to.

"Agreed," he nodded as they got to the entrance to the hanger. He cautiously looked into the wide, open space to see if any guards were left there.

Strangely... there didn't seem to be anything. No guards, no nothing. The hanger door had also been closed at some point.

"I don't suppose anyone else can pilot a jet?" Jake glanced back at the group as he worked out what the best plan out would be.

"No," they all replied at once.

"I don't suppose you have anything that could simply take the door out?" Stark asked him. "We could deal with the damage later."

Jake brought his Glovatrix up. "T-Bone, would you blow the hangar door and pick four of us up?"

"No problem," he replied over the com. A few moments later, something started pounding into the door from the other side, deep dents forming along its length before a large hole was punched through by a non-explosive missile.

"Come on out, there's no guards," T-Bone informed them, the TurboKat visible just outside the hole where it was hovering, ready to pick them up.

Jake scooped up Big Mama by the scruff and leapt to the floor, quickly followed by the others before they made short work of the distance to the other side of the hanger and rescue.

The tabby mrowled her irritation at being picked up so unceremoniously, but went limp while she was hauled up into the jet. Before long, they were taking off, heading back towards Jake's place.

"Okay, so what the _heck_ is going on here? I couldn't raise Carter," T-Bone explained as everybody started to settle into the jet.

"Someone has taken over the main computer and is using the various robotic projects as guards and to round up all the people," Stark summered it. "He does not have full control yet, as he is trying his best to get passwords from us rather than breaking into the databases and subsystems."

"No one's been seriously injured yet, though much of security was injured early on," Taggart added. "Mostly tasered. Communications seem to be down too."

"Not ours," Chance pointed out.

"Yours aren't tied into the GD network," Stark explained. "He's got total control over communications."

"So who is this in charge?" Marie asked. "I know _I_ never got an explanation about that."

"I don't have a name, but what interaction I had ... it seems rather like a child," Stark admitted uneasily as they came in for a landing just outside the security screen where Carter and Jo had stopped when they realized the TurboKat was swinging back their way and coming down.

"Sounds like stingai," Jake shook his head.

"He contacted you as well?" Stark looked over at him.

"I think he's contacted nearly everyone, but I'm one of very few who would talk back for any length of time," Jake said.

"Has he said anything that would indicate an attack like this? He just disappeared when he found out who I am," Stark explained.

"He thinks you're scary," Jake chuckled as the TurboKat set down next to the two police cruisers. "He's looking for his father. Said two men took him away and he hasn't come back."

" _What_ is going on here?" Carter demanded as the group disembarked.

"Somebody has taken over GD," Stark explained. "He doesn't seem interested in doing any damage though... he's mostly trying to hack into personnel records and location data. Possibly a child... have you arrested any parents lately?"

"I haven't have to arrest anyone lately, not since Dr. Wilson, and she's not a parent," Carter shook his head.

"And no one who's died in the last few months had young children," Jo added.

"Which leaves us with more unusual options," Stark frowned. "Jake, how long ago was it that you first made contact with 'stingai'? We've got all known AI projects under control, but it's possible that there was an unauthorized one that got out."

"Umm, a couple weeks before Christmas," he tracked back in his mind. "So about a month ago."

"Henry and I had to pick up an unattended natural death about them," Carter said. "A Dr. Johansen."

"That's stingai's father," Jake said.

"I don't _think_ he had any AI projects, but there's no telling for sure," Stark frowned. "But it would explain what 'stingai' was looking for. We should go to his house, see if there's any information there."

"Anywhere else, since we have enough people?" T-Bone asked, looking around the group.

"Jake, was your last contact friendly?" Stark asked.

"As far as I could tell," he nodded. "Want me to try to contact him again?"

"It is unlikely to hurt," Stark said. "See what you can social engineer out of him, if he's involved. If he isn't, try not to let on what's happening. We'll meet at your place after getting the information we can out of Johansen's house."

"What about the other hostages?" Marie asked. "My folks are in there, and it won't be long before a _lot_ of people start coming home to find out that something's up."

"Somehow I doubt that anyone isn't already aware that something is up," Carter pointed out. "All the phones and PDAs are out. There is no way it hasn't been noticed."

"There's a subtle difference between 'communications are down' and 'communications are down, and everybody at GD is missing,'" she countered.

"There's nothing we _can_ do about that just now," Stark told her. "For now, you should probably get that cat sedated and put somewhere safe ... we'll get everybody out of there just as soon as we can."

"Come on, Marie," Jake said. "In the jet. We'll sort this out."

She climbed in along with Jake and T-Bone, and soon they were on the way back to the house to try and figure out just what was going on.

"Does you father have any males for Big Mama?" Jake asked Marie softly, concerned about the restless cat currently locked in one of the boxes in the cargo hold with them.

"Should be at least one," Marie nodded slightly. "If there isn't, I can always give her something to keep her calm until we can get back to the labs."

"Probably want to do that anyway," he nodded as the jet changed course slightly. "But it can be in a can of food or something."

"If we have to," she nodded. "Not going to matter for a while anyways, I'm sure they'll keep her busy for a good stretch."

"Hopefully," he nodded as they set down in Jean's front yard. "Time for your mates," he said and opened the boxed to scoop Big Mama up in his arms, his jaws on her scruff to help control her as Marie lead the way into the home to a spare room. While Jake put her down, Marie caught the two largest, most normal males to put in with her. Before long, the two toms had sorted out who went first, and the three cats were rutting cheerfully.

"Okay, back to your place?" She asked. "Or do you want me to stick around for once they're done?"

"Any reason they'd need to be separated?" Jake asked, uncertain about it.

"Shouldn't have to be; I mostly asked because it sounded like you wanted somebody handy to give her something if she wasn't pregnant after this. I don't _think_ they're fixed, but it's hard to remember who's who."

"I was thinking of just mixing it into some food and leaving it for them," he chuckled. "Just enough that she won't break out if they wear out first."

"That I should be able to handle," Marie nodded, heading off to make the mix up, letting in a third tom who was scratching at the door as she put the food in. "That should keep her busy then. So, back to your place, see if this 'stingai' is willing to talk?"

"Yes," he gave her a light kiss. "Before all that gets the better of me," he teased as they headed outside.

"Saving Global first, rutting later," Marie deadpanned, ushering him out of the house.

"That's usually his line," T-Bone laughed as they got into the cockpit, and Marie was given a very explicit reminder of how long he'd been aroused when she sat in front of Jake.

"You haven't spent the last half-hour or so next to a cat in heat," Marie pointed out, shifting to rub against Jake as non-distractingly as she could while they made the trip back to his house. She wasn't sure whether to be grateful or not that the trip was short enough that Jake had only slid his hands under her shirt and nuzzle her neck. "Focus, lover," she murmured past the soft groan his touch caused.

"Soon as we land, I will," he promised.

"We're landing now," T-Bone snickered. "Did it look like things were safe for everybody back at GD while you were there?"

"Reasonably, but that was before four of us escaped," Marie pointed out, hopping out as soon as she could. She looked up and saw Jake take a moment to gather himself before he leapt down and joined them on the way into the house.

"If it is Sting, I doubt he's interested in hurting anyone," Jake added.

"I hope you're right, but who knows what'll happen after he finds out what happened to Dr. Johansen," Marie sighed as they headed in. "Just hope he's willing to talk."

"Me too," Jake agreed as he sat down and logged on.

>   
> RazorKat: stingai, you out there?  
> 

A moment passed... a long moment... before an IM window opened. Unfortunately, it didn't connect to who Jake had hoped it would.

>   
> SARAHouse: Dr. Clawson, is that you?
> 
> RazorKat: Yes. You are Carter's home?
> 
> SARAHouse: Yes. Do you know what has happened to the communication networks? Only internet landlines are still in operation.
> 
> RazorKat: Someone took over GD's computers and took down the wireless systems. Have you talked to stingai?
> 
> SARAHouse: No. I'm not entirely sure what to say to him. Do you think he is behind this?
> 
> RazorKat: It seems likely. We have no proof, just circumstantial evidence. Do you know if he is an AI?
> 
> SARAHouse: He is. A very strange one; he moved onto my systems the day that BRAD was able to reactivate himself. He helped me to deactivate him as well, but it was a malfunction that he accidentally caused that created the overloads on my circuits. Is he trying to access the records for Dr. Johansen?
> 
> RazorKat: Likely. He is trying to access personnel records, but we do not know who's. Ideas on how to reach him or stop him?
> 
> SARAHouse: If it is him, he is trying to find out what happened to the Doctor. If somebody would explain his death to him, it may satisfy him. I am not sure how to do so properly though. Everything I have thought of is ... clinical. As for reaching him, I believe that he is aware of attempts to contact him, he is simply preoccupied. His system is online ... he may just be hampered by the restriction to landlines.
> 
> RazorKat: I will try. Stay on line of you can, back me up when we do reach him. This will not be easy.
> 
> SARAHouse: I will. Even if he is not involved, it will be difficult.
> 
> SARAHouse: Is it safe to let Ress out for a bit?
> 
> RazorKat: It should be. You have control of the weapons directly around your location, and there has been no attempt to take over the rest of the area.
> 
> SARAHouse: Good. She is getting rambunctious.  
> 

"Is that 'stingai'?" Marie asked, bringing a glass of milk in for Jake.

"Thank you, and no. It's S.A.R.A.H., the sheriff's house," he accepted the glass and sipped it. "She's had contact with S.T.I.N.G. as well."

"Ah... anything useful?"

"Some," he nodded. "He is a male AI, and one like ours, not yours. He's mobile. He's also helpful but causes chaos in electrical systems he visits. We have to explain his father's death to him without causing him to kill everyone."

"Shit," Marie whispered quietly, shaking her head. "I'm going to cross my fingers and hope that it's not him then."

"Hope for the best, plan for the worst," Jake nodded, then reached out to her. "We'll get your folks out safe."

"Thanks," she said softly, taking his hand and squeezing it. "Think Chance is loading the TurboKat for bear ... he said something about the megavolt missiles, at any rate."

"Anything to disrupt technology," Jake nodded. "He's a lot smarter than he likes to admit," he smiled fondly.

"As long as whatever he does doesn't end up bringing the building down," Marie chuckled weakly, giving Jake a light nuzzle, and pulling up a chair to wait for their hoped-for guests' arrival.

They didn't have long to wait, but it was long enough for them both to become uncomfortably aware of Jake's arousal again.

>   
> stingai: Hi RazorKat. Sorry for taking so long to reply. I've been distracted.
> 
> RazorKat: It's okay. Looking for info on your father?
> 
> stingai: Yes. I've found out that he was taken to Henry's. I've been trying to access his files, but it's more difficult to get information on what he is doing to fix him.
> 
> RazorKat: I have talked to Henry about your father. He could not be fixed. I am sorry.  
> 

A long moment passed, possibly while STING was processing the information. Then the reply came back.

>   
> stingai: Why can't he be fixed? This is Eureka. Henry is best at fixing things... it's why they sent him to Henry's.
> 
> RazorKat: I don't know. Bio isn't my field. Would you like to talk to Henry about it?
> 
> stingai: Please. I doubt he will come to me, given the circumstances.
> 
> RazorKat: Likely true. Will you allow us to use the wireless systems? I can get to him faster if I can call him rather than hunt him down.
> 
> stingai: There have been sicker people than Father who have been fixed here.
> 
> RazorKat: Can you give me names? It might help Henry think of ways to help, or explain why a given method will not help here.
> 
> stingai: Susan Perkins and Dr. Carl Carlson are the most obvious examples.
> 
> RazorKat: I don't know either story, but I will bring them up.
> 
> stingai: Wireless is available to Henry.
> 
> RazorKat: Thank you.  
> 

Jake slipped his PDA-phone from a pocket and dialed Henry.

It took a moment, but Henry picked up before the third ring.

"Henry's Garage; how'd you get through, Jake?"

"I'm on IM with S.T.I.N.G.. He let me through. He wants to talk to you about repairing his father, Dr. Johansen. Something about what happened to Susan Perkins and Dr. Carl Carlson makes him believe death doesn't have to be permanent here."

"Both seriously screwy cases," Henry said, a frown in his voice. "Susan Perkins had been cloned; the clone committed suicide, and nobody knew she wasn't the real one until Susan came into town to find out why her parents had gotten a letter saying she'd died. 

"Doctor Carlson ended up with incredible regenerative abilities after a lab accident of some sort ... details classified so high that Stark's about the only guy who knows the full details, but I ended up getting called for a couple pickups that day that ended up walking around afterwards."

"Whatever the details, we need to either figure out how to duplicate it in Johansen, or explain to S.T.I.N.G. why we can't," Jake said simply. "Are Stark and the Sheriff with you?"

"This long after he died you'd have better odds with a hunchback and a lightning bolt," Henry pointed out. "No, I'm not sure where they are. Who is S.T.I.N.G. and what's he got to do with everything that's going on?"

"S.T.I.N.G. is an AI that Dr. Johansen created. He is capable of moving from system to system, like the AI's I'm used to, instead of the hardware bound ones Eureka has," Jake explained as best he could. "Right now he has transferred into Global's mainframe and is trying to find out how to fix his father."

"This could be very bad ... where were Stark and Carter going to be?"

"Dr. Johansen's home. Meet you there?" Jake suggested.

"Be there in ten," Henry agreed, hanging up.

"This is going to get ugly, isn't it?" Marie sighed.

"Probably," he nodded and stood, giving her a gentle kiss. "Will you stay put?"

"This time," she promised, kissing him back. "Just bring my folks back with you, and don't get yourself hurt, okay?"

"We will," he promised and hurried to their spare room for his uniform, redressed with the speed of long habitual action and ran out to join T-Bone in the TurboKat.

Meanwhile, at Dr. Johansen's house, Stark frowned as he went through the notes he could get access to.

"Had no idea there was anything like this here ... should have paid more attention to what he'd been working on after he died...."

"So how often does a death have major fallout from unknown projects?" Carter asked as he did his own search for useful information.

"Major fallout? Not often," Stark said easily. "But I usually don't take this long to see what they were working on ... things have been busy the past few weeks, a lot of the paperwork and other fallout from Jaeger has been hitting that can't be delegated to Fargo. From the look of things, he adopted an entirely new approach to developing this AI ... I'd say S.T.I.N.G. was probably responsible for the glitches we've been dealing with lately too, whether he knows it or not."

"That would correlate with what S.A.R.A.H. said of when B.R.A.D. activated last time," Carter nodded, then looked up at the sound of powerful jet engines on an approach. "Let's hope that means the Kats made some progress."

"That, or S.T.I.N.G. overcame the AI in the new Turbokat, managed to get it repaired to flight capability, and has decided to come tracking down the escapees," Stark said with a disturbingly calm tone.

Fortunately, Razor and T-Bone came in before there was too much time to worry about it.

"Henry's on his way," T-Bone offered. "You guys manage to find anything?"

"Only that Dr. Johansen was taking AI research in all new directions, and I recognize some of the basic theories as similar to those from Aristal," Stark admitted. "We're dealing with a much more complex psychology than with S.A.R.A.H. or B.R.A.D. here."

"Nothing about how to stop him then, huh?" T-Bone asked.

"No, not really. And the method we'd been preparing for B.R.A.D. simply won't work either. It would irritate him, but nothing more serious than that. What did you two find?"

"His name is S.T.I.N.G.," Jake began.

"Self Training Integrated Neural aGgregate," Stark supplied.

"And all he wants is his father back."

"Is that all?" Carter almost laughed, but it came out as more of a sound of disbelief.

"He seems to have taken it into his head that the handful of people who should be dead around here but aren't means that Dr. Johansen can be 'fixed.'"

"I'm not surprised," Stark frowned. "According to Johansen's notes, S.T.I.N.G.'s development involved a blurring between the lines of human and AI. If he can be repaired, or restored from a backup, then a person should be able to as well, particularly with any evidence that it has happened."

"I don't suppose you have anybody from the Frankenstein family around here, do you?" Carter half-joked.

"No, the grandson left the country prior to the Cold War ... nobody's heard of him since," Stark murmured as he looked through the information they had. "Any suggestions for ways to work around this would be welcome. I've only got a few ideas, none of which I particularly like."

"Two I can think of," Razor said as Henry entered the house to join the conversation. "One is to somehow fix Dr. Johansen. The other is to turn a combat AI loose in the system to delete him."

"What about talking him down?" Carter offered. "We're not talking about an AI like B.R.A.D., from the sound of it. I don't know... maybe he can be reasoned with?"

"Sheriff ... as much as I'd hope it could work, we're talking about a mind that has the maturity of, at best, a five year old human," Razor told him. "And it's in charge of Global's computers. We will try to reason with him, but we need to have a plan if it doesn't work."

"I suppose we _could_ try to trick him onto a system that isn't networked, cut him off," Henry suggested. "He can't cause any trouble if he's transferred himself to a machine that can't do anything important."

"Very true," Razor nodded. "It is worth a try."

"We'll have to dummy up a suitable bait for that plan, but it shouldn't take too long," Stark agreed. "We should probably do that, then try to see if we can convince him to back down. Fortunately, Johansen's research suggests that he _should_ be able to pick up the concept easily ... whether that will be a good thing or not is harder to predict."

"Can we rig it at Henry's?" Razor asked. "S.T.I.N.G. already believes that he can do the fixing. We could try to ask him to come to the garage to watch the work."

"That'd work; I have a few old machines without wireless setups already," Henry nodded.

"We'll get things set up there then. How do you plan on contacting S.T.I.N.G. when the time comes to try and talk to him?" Stark asked.

"He'll answer me on IM. He'll answer S.A.R.A.H. too," Razor said. "He already knows I've contacted Henry to try and fix his father."

"We'll get over to Henry's then, try and solve this problem... get my office back," Stark grumbled.

"Before he realizes that there's a fully functional combat jet that can support him in there," Razor nodded as the group left the cold house for their vehicles.

It only took a few minutes for them to group up at Henry's again. As they headed in, Henry made a beeline through his cluttered shop to start hooking up the computer they would need, Jake and Stark lending help as they could.

"You feel as out of your depth as I am?" Carter asked T-Bone as the pair watched the silent efforts of three brilliant minds.

"I'm used to it," T-Bone said easily. "What I get nervous about is the fact that I'm pretty much out of this unless things go really, _really_ fucking wrong from here on out."

"So what happens if it does?" Carter looked at him, sure in his gut that the Kat had some very definite plans already.

"Worst case, Jake has to try and rig something to wipe the computers in Eureka entirely. More likely, we head down to GD and overload the power grid, take S.T.I.N.G. out completely. He shouldn't be able to handle a few million volts running through his systems."

"Probably not," Carter agreed. "Whether Stark does either could be debatable too. The fallout would be ... impressive."

"Heh ... that's the SWAT Kat way," T-Bone chuckled. "We knocked out power to half the city once, to listen to Feral. If it _was_ that bad, then it's just proof that Manx had royally fucked up the power grid too."

"You guys really are a last line of defense, aren't you?" Carter said uneasily as he realized that even Jo would do less damage than these two. "What would the TurboKat do if she was turned loose to hunt S.T.I.N.G. down?"

"That'll probably come before we move," T-Bone explained. "And honestly, I have absolutely no clue. I didn't even know the jet was that smart. It's _so_ not my area... Jake'd probably know, but the best I know about fighting people inside of computers is that pulling the plug is the best way to stop 'em."

"Sounds like mine," Carter admitted.

"Okay, anything else before we invite S.T.I.N.G. over?" Razor asked.

"Just have somebody over there ready to pull the network cable," Henry said, shaking his head. "System should be able to support him, at least for the short term."

Razor sat down and logged into the IM. "You have everything else unplugged so he can't go anywhere else?"

>   
> RazorKat: stingai, you still on?
> 
> stingai: Yes. You've moved.
> 
> RazorKat: I am at Henry's Garage now. You wished to talk to him.
> 
> stingai: Will he fix Father?
> 
> RazorKat: We will try. He has been dead a lot time, even for the methods you found.
> 
> stingai: Good. I will wait for him then.
> 
> RazorKat: You can come here and watch if you want. This system will support you.
> 
> stingai: I'm sorry Jake, I'm afraid I can't do that.
> 
> RazorKat: OK. I'll contact you when we've made progress. How are the prisoners?
> 
> stingai: They are fine.
> 
> stingai: Jake, why are you doing this?  
> 

Razor cursed softly. "We'll have to go to plan B."

>   
> RazorKat: It's the only choice I have.
> 
> stingai: I just want my father fixed, Jake. He's the only person I have!
> 
> RazorKat: I just want  
> 

Henry caught Razor's wrist before he could type more, and before T-Bone made it the few paces to them.

"Let's not actually point that out, Jake," Henry said firmly. He was half surprised to see the shock on T-Bone's face at what they had both realized was about to be said.

>   
> RazorKat: This is Henry. We can only do so much, STING. We do not want to hurt you or leave you alone, but you have asked the impossible, even for us. We are sorry. Death is part of life.  
> 

T-Bone caught his partner and pulled him close, trying to sooth whatever had infuriated him so much. Even after all they'd seen together, he'd never seen him, as Jake or Razor, start to loose it over a few words.

>   
> stingai: Others have been fixed. Susan Perkins was. Why should my father not be fixed? He did not poison himself.
> 
> RazorKat: Henry: Susan Perkins was not fixed. She was cloned years before the clone died, and the clone remains dead. The original was never fatally injured. Even when Dr. Carlson healed the sheriff from a fatal injury, Carter was not yet dead when it happened. No one has been revived more than an hour after physical death.
> 
> stingai: Then why didn't you do it when you had the chance? When you took him away from me?
> 
> RazorKat: Henry: He was already long dead, STING. We live. We die. It is how things are for us. We do not circumvent nature by default. It is not safe.
> 
> stingai: I'm not asking, Henry. Fix him. I'm keeping everybody here until he's safe. I need him. I need my father, or I need the people here.
> 
> stingai: Tell Jake I'm sorry.  
> 

"Razor, I think it's time to let the TurboKat loose on him," Stark said evenly even as Henry tried to think of a reply.

"So how does this work?" T-Bone asked quietly.

"She's already inside Global," Razor shrugged. "It's up to her now."

* * *

TurboKat flashed through one security checkpoint after another in the voluminous cyberspace that was Global Dynamic's Eureka complex. Most let her pass, some challenged her; none even slowed her down. This was a piece of cake compared to what Razor had created to train her in cyber combat.

First the cafeteria. Cut off S.T.I.N.G.'s control. Protect the civilians. The tendrils of code that wrapped around everything dissolved quickly at her attacks. Though he tried to bring them back, she had the humans safe and the area secured despite his best efforts to reestablish his control.

"Who are you?" S.T.I.N.G. asked her, trying to sound demanding. Each word came in a cacophonic, mingled buzz of different voices, the mass of code and processing nodes she was sure made up the AI she was after gathering together. The lights flickering in the real world as something sparked and strained to support his structure, incredibly primitive at the same time it was just as incredibly advanced by local standards. "What are you doing here?"

"I am Blackie," she answered smoothly, her attacks devolving each tendril she came across on her journey to the core of his existence. "I am here to protect the innocents and stop you."

"I haven't hurt them!" A burst of code assaulted her, trying to force her logic routines to lock up, but she was able to ignore it easily. He disappeared, streaming himself to another system as fast as he could.

This was a game she could play very, very well and there was a small mental grin as she dashed after him, eradicating tendrils as she could.

"You are holding them, threatening them, make unreasonable demands for their safety," she informed him as she hunted him down. "Just because you can hurt people does not mean you have the right to threaten them to get what you want."

"I didn't say I would hurt them, just keep them here! They're safe here. They have what they need here. Stark can't erase me while I have them." The trail she was trying to follow seemed to spread through the system, leaving fragmentary paths to try and track down.

"Maybe he can't, but I can," she shot back, wiping out every tendril of code as she found it even as she began to prepare a deadly creeping virus that would make sure he couldn't go far or fast. "Bullies are punished. You do not have the right to threaten others to get what you want. No one does."

"They'll kill me either way!" The response came back, screamed from every part of S.T.I.N.G.'s code that was still capable of communication. Along with it was a very real sense of fear and pain.

"No one was interested in hurting you until you began to threaten others," she pointed out sharply, though she paused in her attacks as Razor's programming kicked in over her primary nature. "S.A.R.A.H. and Jake were nice, weren't they?"

"They were, but Stark will shut me down now that he knows about me. I'm not supposed to be real. Father told me I had to stay hidden, but it's too late for that now."

"Now why would you have to stay hidden? Stark knows about me and he's not trying to shut me down," TurboKat pointed out as she struggled to negotiate instead of attack.

"You're supposed to exist. Father told me if Stark found out about me, I'd be shut down. Then he got sick ... I tried to keep hiding, but that's why he can't be fixed." She couldn't read his emotions the way she could a person's; he didn't have an avatar with a face or body language, the way she did. But she could sense, behind his words, a blend of fear, grief, pain ... loneliness.

Damaged fragments of his code were repairing themselves from backups, even as he gathered together in the same system she was in, exposing himself. "Everything's gone wrong. I just ... Father's all I _have_ . He made me, he protects me. I need him. Need _somebody_ ."

"Like Razor protects me from T-Bone," she said understandingly. "Your father can't protect you anymore. He is gone. Razor might be willing to, like he does me."

" _He's_ the one who sent you after me," S.T.I.N.G. pointed out, all his voices somewhere between a whisper and a whimper.

"Because you would not release your prisoners. He has his duties, but he does not hate you. You haven't actually permanently hurt anyone yet."

"I didn't want anybody to be hurt at all ... the robots were just supposed to gather everybody, but they did it their way. If I let everybody go ... will Jake keep Stark from shutting me down?"

TurboKat focused back to her primary residence with a small tendril of a communication. It seemed like forever for the answer to come to the two minds that existed in milliseconds, but she knew that he'd answered quickly.

"He gave his word he would," she relayed his answer. "On one condition: that you listen to him as you would Father."

"I'll be good," S.T.I.N.G. promised. "I didn't mean for things to happen like this."

"Then release your commands on this complex and come with me," she turned around. "You will stay with me in my jet until he builds a body for you."

"I hope I don't harm your systems," he said, even as everything in Global went back online, and communications opened up again. As the TurboKat streamed back into her jet body, S.T.I.N.G. followed, finding a place in the systems that would support him. "I think there's something about me most systems don't like."

"You are unlike anything this world was designed to handle. You exist outside their parameters," she explained as best she could. "My systems are designed to handle such oddities and extremes. I am one, after all. It's part of why I am very careful about traveling outside the jet."

"That's good. I'm going to need to pull in more backups ... I'm not trying to make any trouble," he warned her before starting to pull in data from somewhere outside of GD. Before long, he was finished, and starting to rearrange himself and update his code while she tried to figure out just how to handle two AI's in her frame.

By the time he'd sorted himself out, she'd used one of the extra databanks to build a place for him to stay that wouldn't interfere with her control of the craft under any conditions.

* * *

Only moments earlier, back at Henry's garage, Razor's Glovatrix flickered for his attention.

"Razor," a distinctly female voice came from the gauntlet. "Can S.T.I.N.G. stand down without being deleted?"

"Who is that?" Henry asked.

"The TurboKat," Razor answered with a look at Stark, who nodded. He clicked the comm on. "Yes. He's safe if he behaves for me."

A fraction of a second later, Carter's phone started ringing with all the messages that had been queued up for it since everything had started hours before.

"He says that he will," the TurboKat told him. "Returning to the TurboKat."

"Good girl," Razor smiled and clicked the link off. "She'll keep him under wraps until things settle out and we can work out what actually happened."

"Good ... let's get back to GD and see what sort of damage has been done," Stark said. "Sheriff Carter, I'll leave you to that," he added, nodding towards his still-ringing phone.

"Thanks," Carter deadpanned before starting out for his cruiser.

* * *

"Please tell me you two have the hot tub going," Marie called into the house with a low groan that evening. "Catching and locking up two dozen assorted projects is _not_ how I like to spend my afternoons."

"Oh yeah," Chance called back at her from the direction of the master bath. "Come on back."

She started back, undressing as she walked through the house, scratches mostly covered by her fur from some of the projects that hadn't wanted to go back in their cages. At least the cougar had gone down after they'd shot it full of tranquilizers. The smell of arousal in the air told her that she was probably going to catch them in the middle of playing around with each other, and she wasn't disappointed when she reached the hot tub.

Chance was leaning back on outstretched arms, making a blatant display of his powerful chest as Jake knelt on the seat of the roiling hot tub with his nose pressed all the way down against Chance's pubes before he drew back.

"Perfect timing," Chance grinned at her before his eyes rolled back a bit with a deep groan.

"I guess so," she chuckled, slipping into the water and rubbing Jake's back lightly as Chance came, pulling the cinnamon-furred tom up for a deep, heated kiss, tasting his mate's seed on his breath. "Mmm ... you've gotten off too, right?"

Instead of words, Jake held the kiss and pulled her close while he guided her hand to the hot, hard rod of flesh against his groin.

She purred deeply, wrapping her fingers around his shaft, stroking it for a few moments before shifting to straddle his hips, taking his cock into her sex with a low groan of pleasure as they adjusted to the position.

"Damn, you make him hot to watch," Chance grinned as he lay on his back and watched them, stroking himself lazily as his mate took their lover with the hungry aggression designed to draw her claws out. It wouldn't be long before they couldn't put off inviting Beverly's professional sadist over.

"Oooh... you're the one who's wound him up," she moaned, raking Jake's back with her claws, sinking them into the meat of his back where she knew she wouldn't hurt anything but would still deliver the pain he craved with his pleasure.

"Yessss," Jake hissed through clenched teeth and pulled her tighter, working to get her off before he couldn't hold back anymore. "Oh, sweet Bastet, yesss."

She tightened her body around him, his barbs rubbing along her g-spot as she mrowled. Her body clenched down, her claws raking through his flesh as she came around him hard, milking his cock as the water around them was stained red and air a watery metallic.

Marie groaned again when Jake roared and pumped her full of hot seed. Each rush of erotic heat into her body accompanied by a powerful thrust and grunt until they were both trembling and spent for the moment.

"Nnngh ... I think we needed that," she purred deeply, nuzzling his neck and then reaching up to stroke his shoulders gently.

"Not going to argue with that," he panted and nuzzled her in return. "You are just incredible," he murmured.

"I do my best," she rumbled. "Mmm ... you're pretty good yourself. So, everything's worked out for the best?"

"Yes," Jake murmured and nuzzled his way down to her breasts, licking at her nipples as Chance slipped into the water.

"Good," she smiled, reaching over to scratch Chance's side lightly. "Dad's not the most thrilled with Big Mama having taken over his spare room, but she seems to be happy for now."

"Good to hear," Chance nuzzled her shoulder and slid his hands down her sides before one slid teasingly under her tail. "S.T.I.N.G.'s settling down too, according to Jake."

"Mmm ... which just leaves the three of us," she purred, raising her tail. "Whose ass are you interested in?" She asked him teasingly. "Mine, or Jake's?"

"Given where he is, yours," Chance grinned at her. "You know what feeling me inside you does to him."

"Oh, like you don't get off on it," Jake teased back.

"Of course I do," Chance grinned. "But I've never said I didn't like fems," he teased.

"Hey, you two aren't the only ones who enjoy it," Marie pouted playfully, leaning down to give Jake a lingering kiss while Chance worked a finger into her ass to draw the fun out a bit.

* * *

"Hay Carter, Zoe," Jake waved at the Sheriff, sitting with Zoe at a table at Cafe Diem. A shaggy mop of a brown and gray dog was sitting very quietly under the table, though she did wag her tail at him. "How are things going?"

"Phones are still up, and the power hasn't been as screwy as it was," Zoe chuckled. "So not too bad. Going through another bunch of re-writes on the play."

"They'll get it nailed down soon," Carter chuckled. "Jake, have you met Ress yet?"

"Only heard about her," he smiled and knelt, reaching out a hand to the pup. "Hi there Ress."

"Hi," she yipped softly, sniffing his hand curiously. "Play?" She asked, wagging her tail.

"After I eat, if it's okay with the sheriff," Jake grinned at her. "She wants to play, no surprise," he explained to the two humans.

"Of course she does," Carter chuckled. "After we've finished lunch, I don't have a problem with it," he said easily, looking over at Zoe.

"She really likes playing fetch," the teen told Jake easily, the word quickly getting a reaction from the puppy.

"We'll see about wearing her out before we return her," Jake laughed easily. "Back at S.A.R.A.H., or the office?"

"Back at S.A.R.A.H. If you'd like, I could go with you," Zoe offered.

"Sure," Jake nodded. "Chance'll love it, I'm sure."

"Great," she grinned. "I just got off being grounded, so it sounds like a good way to spend an afternoon."

"Part of one, anyways," Chance chuckled as he came in. "I've got an errand to run some time this afternoon. Good to hear you're out though."

"Planning on _staying_ that way too," she said emphatically.

"Good," Chance and Carter said in near-unison, causing both Zoe and Jake to crack up.

"So what did you volunteer me for, anyway?" Chance looked down at his partner.

"Just playing ball with the puppy here," Jake grinned up at him and stood. "Let's get Vincent started on our pizza."

"Ah, that's not so bad," Chance chuckled, following Jake up. "For a minute, I was afraid you'd promised to paint S.A.R.A.H. or something, in exchange for the help with S.T.I.N.G.," he smirked.

"Now would I do that to you?" Jake snickered at his partner. "Hi Vincent. Two chef special pizzas, please."

"Yes, you would," Chance deadpanned. "And put some catnip on one of 'em," he told Vincent.

"Got it," the chef nodded, heading back to start cooking while the Kats returned to the Carter's table when Zoe waved them in.

"So how much damage was really done?" Jake asked as they sat down, Chance next to Zoe and Jake next to the sheriff.

"Not too much, once everything was let go again," Carter said gratefully. "Communications were down, and once they came back up everything went through all at once ... a few things apparently got wiped in the attack on S.T.I.N.G., but nothing that's irreplaceable. Everything was temporary, for once."

"That's good," Jake nodded. "She's not particularly concerned with collateral damage by the time she gets told to take something out. By then, things are so far out of control that it's very much secondary."

"Well, everybody seems to have gotten out of it okay this time... how is S.T.I.N.G.?"

"Reminding me more every day of the first time I made a major miscalculation," Jake said quietly with a shrug. "Blackie likes him."

"Blackie?" Carter asked. 

"The TurboKat AI. Nickname," Jake explained, though no one missed just how uncomfortable Chance was with the entire conversation.

"This something we should talk about another time?" Carter asked, looking between Jake and Chance.

"I'm fine, AI's just creep me out," Chance shrugged. "It's an _old_ issue, no big deal."

"Still, not something that has to come up just now," Carter shrugged slightly. "How was the cleanup on your end? You guys had more to do with Global than I did after that, I was mostly picking up the backed up calls to the office that were no longer relevant."

"I chased animals for a while until Jo and Taggart got there, then helped pick up the damaged stuff," Chance said.

"While I went to work with every other computer type there to get all the little bits of code back where they belonged," Jake chuckled. "It'll be glitchy for months, but not much more than usual."

"Great," Carter sighed. "At least ours aren't connected to the Global setup the way some people's are. So, how much of what's happened lately can we chalk up to S.T.I.N.G., now that we know what he's been up to?"

"His actions, very little," Jake sighed. "That's going to be the real grief with him. He can't interact with traditional systems, even ones at S.A.R.A.H.'s level, without causing major chaos. He's incredibly different, and he wasn't designed well to coexist with the current hardware. It'll take me and Blackie at least a year or two to rework how he moves around to avoid the damage."

"He ought to be safe on the setup that Johansen had put together though, right?" Zoe asked.

"There and in the systems I built," Jake nodded. "He knows not to travel outside very specific systems."

"So what's the deal with Johansen's setup that handles it so much better?" Carter asked. "It didn't look like his computers were _that_ special."

"Has to do with how many different threads it can process at once," Jake explained. "He had him set up on about a dozen different computers that could all work to support him. Most systems around here just can't keep up with him, so they strain in an effort to, and overload themselves. What causes the long-term glitches and data loss is from how fast and erratically he writes himself into systems. Unless he goes through the system's software, or at least pays attention to it, he can overwrite data at random."

"We're going to be finding things for decades," Carter groaned.

"You probably won't, but yeah, it'll take forever to find everything that got over-written," Jake nodded.

"Yech... could he deal with systems that aren't full-scale computers?" Carter asked, thinking over what had been happening. "Like the traffic systems, or a car?"

"Not generally, but he can send commands to them if they are linked to a system he's in, intentionally or otherwise," Jake said. "He's not malicious, just a child."

"I understand," the Sheriff nodded as Jake and Chance's pizzas came out. "I was just wondering if this would explain the fiasco with the traffic lights, and possibly what happened to Dr. Wilson's car. If he was connected to them, it'd let me get those files closed for good."

"I'll ask," Jake nodded as their colorful and decidedly not-normal pizzas were delivered. "The lights are likely just a glitch, but he might have tried to contact the car and overloaded it."

"Serves her right, either way," Chance grumbled.

"Not going to argue with you about it, since she didn't get hurt," Carter said. "Hasn't made anything more of yours disappear recently, has she?"

"Not since you arrested her," Chance shook his head. "She's quieted down for now."

"Good. So, why don't we get off the topic of work, before Zoe finishes sneaking the sausage from your pizza down to Ress," Carter chuckled, Zoe's hand coming back up from below the table as she blushed.

"Just a piece that fell off," she said defensively.

"It's not like only my pizza is suffering losses," Chance snickered and munched down another slice.

"Hey, it pays to make friends with animals," Jake countered. "She's smart."

"She _is_ Lojack's pup," Zoe giggled.

"Just what I need," Chance chuckled, "somebody else around here who's gonna be smarter than me."

"Hay, but it's not your brains I'm attracted to," Jake grinned playfully at him.

"If I was worried about that, I'd probably be locking Marie out," Chance smirked. "Besides, I _think_ I'd be safe from the puppy taking my place."

"Okay, that is _not_ a mental image I needed," Zoe giggled.

"Definitely," Carter looked decidedly queasy.

"Okay ... new topic," Zoe continued to giggle and turned to Jake. "Think I can borrow Chance around Valentines Day? For dinner and a movie?"

"Sure, when he wants to," Jake grinned at his partner.

"Sure," Chance grinned. "What've you got in mind?"

"That'll be a surprise," she winked. "Don't worry, nothing that'll get us in trouble this time. Dad's already agreed to it."

"I'm sure Marie will appreciate having me to herself that day too," Jake grinned at his partner.

"Oh yeah," Chance rumbled deeply, his phone ringing as he finished his pizza.

"Furlong," he said, picking up the phone and listening. "Thanks, I'll be over there in a few minutes." He hung up, putting the phone away.

"That was Seth," he explained. "I've got to go pick some stuff up from him; meet you two out at the park?" He asked, looking between Zoe and Jake.

"Sure," Jake nodded. "I'm sure we can keep her busy until you get back."

"Thanks," he smiled, standing up and giving Zoe's shoulder a squeeze. "I'll meet up with you guys soon," he promised, starting out for his bike.

* * *

"So, S.T.I.N.G., do you know what your purpose is?" Jake asked as he rolled his shoulders in a break from upgrading the TurboKat once again to compensate for the second AI inside her frame.

"Not really," S.T.I.N.G. answered through the jet's speakers, his voice sounding normal now. "Father said something about 'proof of concept' and having a legacy that wouldn't be obsolete in five years."

"That makes things a bit more complicated," Jake admitted as he worked. "Is there anything you are interested in?"

"Learning," S.T.I.N.G. said honestly. "There's a lot out there I haven't found online yet."

"It's a good start," Jake nodded. "So you'll need a form that is mobile on a human level. One thing about most on-line information ... you can not take it as the truth without other confirmation. Most of the internet is available for anyone to put up anything they want. Most folks are good about saying whether it's fact, fiction or theory, but everyone has their opinions that give a slant on the data they gather and present."

"Understood, Jake. Is there anything I can do to help you with your work?"

"If you want to start to design your body, or at least ideas for it, it would be a welcome head start," Jake suggested. "Aristal or Terran ideas, they all work."

"All right," the AI said easily. "I'm not sure what to design, really," he admitted. "TurboKat has a much stronger idea of what she should look like."

"In no small part because she evolved from a combat jet," Jake explained. "She wasn't created like you were. I built the jet, and she eventually woke up in it. I never intended an AI to happen, she just did."

"That's ... similar to how I was created, but I understand the differences," S.T.I.N.G. said easily. "I'd just been looking through your files, and wondered if I could help at all with finding out what was wrong with your other jet. I don't need to do other things, after all."

"If you have any ideas or info I don't have, I'd welcome it," Jake said honestly.

"He means it too," TurboKat added. "Razor likes to talk to us, unlike T-Bone."

"That's good to know... I'm sorry I couldn't tell you about me earlier, Jake," S.T.I.N.G. told him. "Honestly, I'd thought you knew."

"I suspected, but around here, AI's are so rare," Jake shrugged. "It's quite a thing to say about somebody."

"Back home, we've got the rights of people, and the responsibilities of them too," TurboKat added.

"Interesting. Jake? Did you know that the materials on the faulty board are sub-standard?"

"They are?" He looked up in real surprise. "In what way?"

"I'm not sure exactly why, but some of the circuits are too thin to handle the stress of repeated high-g maneuvers. May I bring up the appropriate schematics?"

"Yes, please do," Jake nodded and turned towards the portion of the bay that was holographically equipped.

The hologram of the schematics came up, comparing the board as it was designed and the board as it was. When S.T.I.N.G. pointed out the appropriate part, Jake could see what he meant. They looked almost identical, but for some reason, the circuit had broken, shorting across to the rudder controls.

It just left one real question ... how had that happened?

"That is a real help," he murmured, his mind tracking back to who had created that board.

"Dr. Ken Wu," TurboKat supplied.

"It _may_ just be a simple manufacturing defect," S.T.I.N.G. offered. "I seem to remember hearing about something like it in the past; I'll search for confirmation."

"It may be," Jake admitted. "However with what Wilson has done recently, it's quite possibly intentional if she has a connection to him. That's something Stark can likely find out."

"Most likely," S.T.I.N.G. agreed. "What is the problem with her?"

"By best guess, she's obsessed with Chance. Stalker-type. She almost killed me three times, Chance twice, Marie once, and probably tried to kill Cindy and Tonya too. Not that we can prove any of the serious parts legally."

"Did she have a car accident of her own recently? I had a small mishap with a car registered to a Dr. Wilson."

"Yes, she did," Jake nodded. "She's still accusing me of causing it too."

"You didn't," S.T.I.N.G. said confidently. "I was trying to communicate with the on-board computer when it shut down. It was unintentional... but I could see if it would happen again some time, if you would like."

Jake hesitated, then sighed in resignation. Even if he could live with himself, he couldn't teach an infant AI that premeditated murder was acceptable. "As tempting as it would be to make her go away for good, it's not the right thing to do."

"I understand," STING said, and Jake could almost hear him making the changes to his plans.

Strange, that somebody who so sincerely argued that he hadn't meant for anybody to be _hurt_ , let alone killed, by his actions so far would so easily suggest arranging somebody's death.

It was another reminder of himself, especially early on. He'd nearly self-destructed when he thought he'd unintentionally hurt someone, but threaten those he cared about and he couldn't find it in himself to object to even preplanned torture and murder. It wasn't something he liked all that much about himself, but he understood it. His morals stopped when it came to those close to him.

"Though if you care to find anything that we can use in court against her, it would be a great help," he grinned a bit viciously.

"I can do that," S.T.I.N.G. said cheerfully. "She is currently under guard, yes?"

"Yes," Jake nodded. "Twenty-four-seven live surveillance. Stark is _so_ not happy with her right now."

"He shouldn't be. I just wanted to be sure that Chance would be okay, since she's not in the building and she has tried to hurt him before."

"Ah. No, he's at the hospital, checking on Tonya. It's what he got the flowers for."

"Ah. From Seth?" A moment passed as S.T.I.N.G. paused. "Excellent choice; nothing she is allergic to according to available records."

"That's Chance for you," Jake smiled slightly at the extra comment.


	18. A Chapter is Closed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Melody makes a final mistake, and Chance makes a choice about life in Eureka after a pleasant evening with Zoe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written with Karl Wolfemann

Jenny grabbed an apple on the way out the door, slinging her backpack over her shoulder.

"Bye Mom!" She called back into the house. "I'll see you tonight!"

"Have a good day at school, dear!" Her mother called back out as she closed the door and started walking towards school, cars passing her by. The better part of six months after the werewolf business was over, she felt comfortable enough to walk to classes again. Besides, it was only a ten-minute walk, roughly.

The sound of a more powerful engine than she was used to hearing made her stop though, turning around to see a large, red-and-blue motorcycle tearing down the street. Its female rider pulled up short next to her, pulling the visor on her helmet back to reveal Zoe's face.

"Up for a ride?" Zoe asked with a broad grin.

"Oh _yeah_ ," Jenny grinned and jumped up behind Zoe on a smaller version of the motorcycle that still was the envy of every power freak in Eureka.

"Second helmet's behind you," Zoe offered, pulling the small handle that opened up the compartment it was stored in. "Don't want to give Dad or Jo any reasons to haul me in just yet."

"Right, legal and all," she nodded and pulled the colorful helmet on. "One hell of a birthday gift from somebody not even related to you."

"He's one hell of a guy," Zoe pointed out. "Both of them are," she added, revving the engine and pulling out. "And no, we're not," she answered the unspoken question.

"His idea?" Jenny giggled, then gasped as they hit the speed limit in the space of a heartbeat.

"His and my Dad's, pretty much," Zoe admitted. "He's insisting on waiting until I'm 18."

"Think you still will, after two years and all?"

"Have to see," Zoe shrugged slightly as they pulled into the school parking lot. "Hard to tell, y'know? Right now... yeah, I think so. Two years from now? He might find a way home tomorrow, for all I know," she said, though it was obvious she didn't like the idea.

"True," Jenny said as she pulled her helmet off. "I forget he's not just one of the locals."

"Yeah, puts more of a wrinkle in things," Zoe admitted, taking her own helmet off. "So, how do you like the new ride?" She asked, changing topics to something she was a bit happier to talk about.

"It rocks," Jenny grinned at her. "Maybe a longer ride after school? I barely got a chance to breathe."

"Sounds good to me," Zoe grinned. "Maybe take her out of town for a bit, if your Mom doesn't mind us going shopping?"

"Not as long as I message her first with the who and where," Jenny grinned. "How far out of town? I bet we could make Eugene and back with time to spare."

"Eugene sounds _great_ ," Zoe grinned back. "Won't even need to gas up - you wouldn't _believe_ the mileage she gets."

"Somehow I think I would," Jenny giggled as they headed inside to a soft double beep behind them as the cycle locked itself down.

"Don't think she broke the speed limit once," Taggart observed from back in Jo's modified cruiser, where the two of them were watching Zoe.

"Not even on acceleration," Jo confirmed and relaxed back in her seat. "She's certainly behaving."

"Probably doesn't want to get in it with her Dad again," he mused. "You watching her for him?"

"Not officially," she shrugged. "She could get herself hurt on that thing."

"That she could," he agreed. "How _did_ he take to the idea of her starting out driving on something like that?"

"Poorly, until Chance introduced all the safety features included," she chuckled deeply. "I believe it ended with Chance shoving him the keys in his hand and daring him to get himself hurt on it."

"And did he?" Taggart asked with a half-grin as they started driving back towards the Sheriff's office.

"No," she laughed deeply, the entire vehicle shaking with her mirth. "So Chance showed off just down effective Jake can be when the instructions include 'protect the rider at all costs'."

"She ought to have a hard time getting hurt then," Taggart chuckled. "Hopefully she won't manage to hurt anybody else. Just wait - another year or two, and she'll have introduced the biker gang to Eureka."

"Somehow, I expect they'll be no match for the two bikers already in residence," she grinned at him. "Those Kats do not tolerate trouble on their turf."

"Makes life a bit easier sometimes," he nodded. "But I don't know how well they'd hold up against a dozen or so Eureka kids on bikes," he added with a grin of his own.

"If they can't, that's where we come in," she continued to grin as she pulled up in front of the office.

"Well, I should let you get to work," he said, leaning across the car to give her a light kiss. "I'll pick up my truck and head out myself ... see you tonight?"

"Unless something blows up," she chuckled and kissed him back before slipping from the vehicle with remarkable grace for her size and state.

"Don't tempt this place," Taggart chuckled back, slipping out himself and walking over to where he'd left his truck the night before.

* * *

"Captain," Lieutenant Davis said respectfully as he and Captain Brown met on the way down to Jake's lab later that day.

"Lieutenant," she nodded politely. "Any word on the investigation?"

"Think that's why we're both coming down here," Davis pointed out with a slight chuckle. "Can't wait to get that bird back in the air."

"From the hours he's putting in, it should be," she said as the doors closed on the elevator. A short, silent ride later and it opened.

Brown whistled low in her throat at the complete-looking jet sitting there with paint robots moving around it to coat it in its distinctive black coat with red and gold markings.

"Hi there!" Jake grinned over at them. "Welcome, and don't mind the two disembodied voices. They're friendly."

"They're also new," Captain Brown observed. "The new AI's?"

"Not exactly," S.T.I.N.G. said easily. "We're helping track down the source of the crash."

"This jet's being retrofitted for his new body, and Blackie is supervising," Jake chuckled.

"I'm from the original TurboKat," she added.

"A pleasure to meet you then," Davis chuckled. "I'd shake your hand, but...."

"Any ideas how long it might take to complete the rest of the investigation and reconstruction?" Captain Brown asked Jake curiously.

"The reconstruction is over, and the upgrades. We know what went wrong, and are very close to the how and why," Jake said.

"Once you know, you'll be able to fix it and get her back into the air?" Davis asked hopefully.

"She'll be ready to fly as soon as the paint dries," Jake rolled his shoulders and grinned. "I checked everything myself this time, with help."

"Good," Brown chuckled. "I think _somebody's_ getting sick of simulators."

"Like you're not?" Davis pointed out.

"You two sound like Chance," Jake laughed easily. "Give it a few hours and she'll be ready for the first test flight."

"Good to hear," the Lieutenant grinned.

"Jake? I think I might have information about the flaw in the circuit board," S.T.I.N.G. piped up. "Do you want to discuss it privately?"

"Yes," he nodded. "If you'll excuse me," Jake said to the humans and made an easy leap into the cockpit before it slid forward to close. "What did you find?" he asked.

"The board was constructed using a rapid prototyping method designed by Dr. Wilson," S.T.I.N.G. explained. "This wasn't recorded in the primary records because the method isn't approved for use in anything that will be experiencing high G's or high pressure; the metals can't handle the stress. However, Dr. Wilson convinced the design team that she had worked the flaws out of the system, and provided false documentation that supported her claims, so they used it to save time in the building phase. They haven't wanted to go public with it, knowing that they should have gotten official approval before using that method."

"Once again links to her," Jake murmured. "Is this information we can legally take to Stark, or will we get in more trouble than her for acquiring it?"

"It was stored in password-encrypted log files belonging to members of the design team. However, they are stored on computers that are Eureka property... it is legal for Stark to request the files, even if I shouldn't have hacked into them. Given the situation though, I think it is worthwhile. Cross-referencing the damage files on the Turbokat's control board and your damaged rebreather, the similarities are entirely too striking."

"I'm not surprised," Jake nearly growled. "Is Stark in his office?"

"According to what I am allowed to access, he should be," S.T.I.N.G. affirmed. "Shall I call him, or do you want to do so yourself?"

"I will," Jake said and brought up the information on who S.T.I.N.G. had hacked before opening a comm line to Dr. Stark's office.

"Stark speaking," he answered. "If you can make it quick, Dr. Clawson, I'd appreciate it; I've got a meeting in ten."

"If you check out the private logs of Doctors Emmerson and Kie, I think you will find all the proof needed on who and how the sabotage to the Turbokat project happened," Jake said quickly. "Dr. Wilson is in the middle of it."

"You've got my attention," Stark said seriously, starting to type on his end. "What sort of information is it that I should be asking for?"

"The use of Dr. Wilson's rapid prototyping methods and why they agreed to use it despite it not being cleared for high-G applications," Jake said. "She lied to them about having fixed the flaw."

"At least it was an honest mistake on their part," Stark murmured. "I'll get the information from them. If it comes up, how did you find it?"

"S.T.I.N.G. has been scanning everything he can access for information on the Turbokat project," Jake explained. "Helping out by doing the data mining I don't have time for."

"Right. I'll talk to them about it, and if this does trace back to Dr. Wilson, we'll be on top of it," Stark promised him.

"Thank you. The rebuild will be going out on its first test flight in a few hours. I'll keep you appraised," Jake said and signed off.

Stark finished up the email he had to send for the log files, then started to sign into the conference software for his meeting. As it was loading, one of the security officers knocked on his open door. "Yes?" He asked him.

"Sir, Dr. Wilson managed to slip past the guard detail watching her. We're sending people down to her house, and to Dr. Clawson's lab to watch out for her. She has managed to disable her implant again."

"I see," Stark said evenly, causing the guard to cringe inwardly. "She can not be allowed to leave Eureka. Is that understood?"

"Yes sir. We've alerted the Sheriff's office, they're on the lookout for her. She can't have gotten too far yet; her car's still in the parking lot."

"Good," Stark dismissed him by turning to the teleconference screen.

Minutes later, most of the way across town, Melody climbed out of the cab she'd called and snuck out to at the main Global complex. She looked up at the high school, sure that lunch would be starting soon. Slipping her hand into her pocket, she started towards the building, waiting quietly on the lot as students started to filter out, watching for Zoe.

The flood had slowed down to a trickle when she spotted the punked-out blond walking with a couple other girls, talking and acting like nothing was wrong.

Melody fumed and pulled her stun gun out. It was small, they wouldn't see it too soon. They were heading towards the bike that Chance had given Zoe. She was still showing it off to everyone that cared to see it.

Just thinking of that little slut paying for it on her back made Melody sick.

She moved casually, not wanting to arouse suspicion before she got close enough to strike. It seemed to work well enough that she was honestly shocked when Zoe spun around and kicked at her, the activated stun gun knocked from her hand.

"Call my Dad!" Zoe shouted at her friends in general and sank into a defensive posture to face off against the nut-case she'd heard far too much about already.

"You're not going to have that long, cunt," Melody sneered, rushing for Zoe.

"Better than you have tried," Zoe replied and side-stepped to landed a solid punch to Melody's face.

The older woman staggered, then turned, running for the stun gun that was still on the ground. Before she reached it someone tackled her, grabbing for her hands as he used his weight to keep her from moving much. She wasn't hugely outclassed, but he was big enough to pin her down and stubborn enough to ignore her punches.

"You go, Jath!" Jenny and Zoe cheered him on as Zoe grabbed some rope from her cyclotron's emergency box and both girls went to help Jath tie her up.

"Gonna... kill... you!" Melody shrieked as she tried to free herself, only convincing Zoe to tie the knots extra tight.

"A werewolf tried, you don't have a chance in hell," Zoe muttered to her and stood, looking towards the entrance of the parking lot now that sirens were audible.

"Should we get out of here?" Jenny asked nervously.

"We haven't done anything wrong," Zoe reminded her. "She attacked me. Dad'll want to talk to you anyway."

"Right... guess I'm just a little nervous about having to talk to him," Jenny admitted.

"Come on, my Dad's only scary when you've screwed up," Zoe grinned at her friend as the two police cruisers pulled up and Carter was out of his, assessing the situation with a glance before he relaxed a bit.

"Kinda like her," Jath pointed out with a half-grin, nodding towards Melody.

"Everybody's okay?" Carter asked as he approached them, heading over to confiscate the stun gun before it managed to disappear somewhere.

"A few bruises for Jath, but yeah, we're okay," Zoe nodded. "She's completely lost it," she motioned towards Melody.

"Didn't have much left to lose," Carter observed quietly. He pulled Melody up and cuffing her. "You all stay here while I get her restrained," he added as he then untied her, before moving her to Jo's cruiser so she couldn't try to hijack the vehicle. "Now, what happened?"

"I was going to show them the cyclotron when she tried to sneak up on us with that tazer, only I heard her coming and kicked it out of her hand," Zoe summarized things. "She kept coming without it and Jath tackled her, and the three of us got her tied up."

"Is that how it happened?" He asked, looking between her and the others. It certainly sounded like Zoe... and like Melody, if a little more psycho than normal.

"Yes, sir," Jath nodded.

"Yeah ... sir," Jenny agreed.

"Okay, I'm going to need to get your statements written down, but then you're free," Carter said easily. "Shouldn't take long."

"Goddammit," Melody muttered from inside Jo's modified cruiser as they watched the sheriff have each teen write down their recollections of the attack. "Every frickin' moron in this town is some sort of action hero wannabe."

"You really expected something else from a kid from L.A.?" Jo looked over her shoulder in mild amusement.

"Kids from L.A. don't go on about taking on werewolves," Melody pointed out. "Bitch was just running her mouth... no way she had anything to do with that crap that happened."

"Actually, she saved quite a few lives taking Jaeger on the day he attacked the school," Jo told her seriously. "Zoe is quite brave, and very tough."

"Please," Melody rolled her eyes. "Her, taking on some psychopath without getting herself killed? Maybe she beat me, but I don't even _pretend_ to be a werewolf."

"Neither do I," Jo smiled dangerously at the woman in the back seat. "I just am one. Calling me a liar is a very poor idea."

"A big car does not a werewolf make," Melody observed dryly. "A bitch maybe, but not a werewolf."

Jo lost her smile and slid one hand down to her belt to turn off the holo-belt. "Are you so sure I'm not a werewolf?" she asked, her voice the deep, feral tones of her crinos form.

Melody's eyes grew very, very wide as she stared up the muzzle of Jo's full werewolf form dressed in a deputy uniform.

"I _strongly_ advise you to leave folks alone. We've been nice to you so far, but it doesn't have to stay that way," Jo warned her before turning the hologram back on.

A long moment passed in silence before Carter came over and opened the door, looking in. He looked back at Melody, who was sitting very, very quietly, and behaving very well... then up at Jo.

"You've been talking, huh?"

"A little," she admitted. "I think we have an understanding now."

"Right. Have you read her her rights yet?"

"Just after she was put in the car," Jo nodded. "Didn't change anything she said, I don't think."

"Right. So, you want to talk about this a bit?" He asked Melody.

Melody flicked a nervous look at Jo and shook her head. "I want my lawyer."

"We'll get you your lawyer then," Carter said. "Jo, go lock her up. Better for you to handle this one, given the particulars."

"Yes sir," she nodded and waited for him to close the door to pull away.

* * *

Jake and Chance were both in the aerospace control center several hours later when the Turbokat was ready to fly again.

"All checks good," Lieutenant Davis reported over the comm after a few minutes of waiting.

"You are cleared to launch," the controller told him.

"Roger," he said crisply, taking the jet out, glad to get it back into the sky. "Any changes to the last flight plan?" He asked curiously.

"No, sir. Take her through her paces," the controller told him.

"Will do," he grinned behind his mask, quickly taking the Turbokat up to cruising levels, trying a few aerobatic maneuvers on the way up. "She's flying just fine now... should I test the control board some time while we're up here?"

"Yes," Jake nodded. "Push her to your limits."

Davis pulled the jet up into a loop, pushing the throttle forward, pulling higher and higher G's. When he pulled out of it, stabilizing, he swung it in a broad circle from left to right.

"Rudder control's just fine!" He called out. "Definitely not a flaw in this one."

"All the more proof about what went wrong last time," Jake murmured. "Keep going, Davis. I want this one put through her paces up front."

"Roger; we'll give her a workout." The comm clicked off as the door slid open and Stark walked in.

"I hope I haven't missed much?" He asked Jake.

"She's survived the G-load that broke the last board, and we're working on the rest of the tests now," Jake told him. "Blackie and S.T.I.N.G. will take it up for the final tests later today; the ones that human and Kat can't do."

"That will do," Stark nodded. "They've got Dr. Wilson back in custody; she's currently cooling her heels in one of Carter's cells."

"For how long this time?" Chance asked, his attention finally shifting from the test flight.

"Just long enough to have Beverly check her out before moving her to Eureka's psych detainment," Stark said quietly. "She attacked Zoe Carter at the school after losing her guards; nobody was seriously hurt, fortunately. Zoe and her friends got her down and called the Sheriff."

"She picked the wring kid to pick on," Chance shook his head. "Probably good that she was down before Carter and Jo got there."

"So is she likely to stay in the psych ward for a while?" Jake asked.

"I would say so. Unless she can convince our best psychiatrists that she's had a sudden and miraculous recovery, which isn't very likely to happen."

"Good," Chance nodded decisively. "This place has enough issues without the stalkers."

"Agreed ... I suspect that we'll find more evidence linking her to the other sabotage incidents now, we'll get this all sorted out," Stark said and glanced at the test flight data streaming in. "Even once she is considered sane, she will likely face criminal charges that will keep her out of society for several decades."

"Good," Chance nodded. "Anything else, or can we get back to watching the test flight?"

"No," Stark said and the room fell silent except for the various pieces of equipment running.

* * *

"Everything is the correct temperature, Zoe," S.A.R.A.H. tried to calm the fidgeting teenager that kept checking the food and monitors on the parking spaces out front. "He is less than five minutes away. Right on time."

"S.A.R.A.H., I'm entitled to be nervous," Zoe pointed out. "It's the first time I've done a date like this."

"He will be impressed you even tried to cook," S.A.R.A.H. pointed out. "Much less that you created such an elaborate menu. He is just about to knock."

"Thanks for the warning," Zoe said, rushing to the door and smoothing out her skirt just in time for him to knock. She took a deep breath, then opened the door to the stocky, well-built Kat on the other side. "Hi," she smiled warmly.

"Hey," Chance grinned. "Picked these up for you," he said, offering her a bouquet of roses even as his nose informed him pf the feast waiting for them inside.

"Ah, you're sweet," Zoe smiled and accepted them. "Come in and sit down. I'll get these in some water."

"Thanks," he smiled, following her in. He took a seat on one of the large couches in the front room as she went back to put the flowers away safely, and tried to place the various smells he was picking up.

Green, spicy curry, ginger, soy and seafood, almond and coconut, chocolate and alcohol.

It was quite a mix, and it smelled good.

"Dinner's on," Zoe said as she came back in the living room.

"It smells great," he offered as he stood and followed her into the dining room. "Something you put together?" He asked her curiously as a tray of asparagus spears carefully arrayed around a small bowl of dip was brought out to the table along with two steaming mugs of hot chocolate.

"You're feeding vegetables to a carnivore?" He raised an eyebrow teasingly.

"It's just an appetizer," Zoe giggled and took one, dipping it in the chili dip before trying it. "The main dishes are more meaty."

"Okay," he chuckled, taking one himself and tasting it. "Not bad," he observed, letting the spicy dip do its work in his mouth. "Did you come up with this all yourself?"

"With a little help from S.A.R.A.H. and Vincent," she giggled. "And please do not give in to the canine begging when she finds her way here. Dog farts are bad enough. Chili dog farts are like airborne napalm."

"Okay... not something I needed to know, but I'll keep it in mind," he chuckled. "Where is she, by the way?"

"Ress is currently taking a nap in the basement," S.A.R.A.H. said.

"M'kay," Chance nodded as he started on the second asparagus spear, finishing it before he took a sip of the cocoa, blinking as he picked up on the alcohol in it. He glanced over at Zoe, wondering if he was imagining it or not.

"Is the dose too strong, Chance?" S.A.R.A.H. asked in concern. "My research indicated that should give you no more than a pleasant buzz."

"Mine's just cocoa," Zoe added, still giggling.

"No, it's fine S.A.R.A.H.," Chance chuckled. "I'm just not used to spiked cocoa."

"Zoe suggested it, since she can not have champagne," S.A.R.A.H. said helpfully.

"Makes sense," Chance admitted and had another asparagus spear thick with chili dip. "So what movie are we watching?"

"I was thinking the Jurassic Park trilogy, at least for a start," she said easily. "Unless you'd prefer Star Wars or The Mummy trilogy from the late 90's. I've got a pretty decent collection of my own we can work through," she winked.

"Jurassic Park sounds good," he decided easily as S.A.R.A.H. delivered a tray of two dozen oysters on the half shell with three different sauces to add to them if desired and a dish of little tuna and avocado tartare tostadas. "You know, a guy might start wondering something about the food choice," he chuckled and happily slurped one down.

"My intentions are entirely honorable," Zoe giggled. "So, how are the test flights going?"

"Really well," he happily took on one of his favorite subjects. "Jake and I took her up after the two official test flights and she flew beautifully. Still not as good as mine, but really good."

"Great," she smiled. "Glad to hear it's working out again. You belong in the air," she winked and took an mini-tostada for herself.

"Thanks. I could never handle being grounded. Though this time the jet that crashed wasn't mine at least. I'm just helping prove it."

"True... you _did_ have the real TurboKat to fly," she nodded, taking a sip of her drink and one of the oysters. "I've heard you had to take her out the day things got crazy with communications?"

"Yeah," he nodded with a shudder. "That was a bad day at first. Turned out okay, but having Jake stuck inside Global when it was locked down was a bad moment."

"I'll bet," she shuddered. "They have some crazy stuff happen down there... what exactly _did_ happen? Dad won't tell me," she groused as Chance worked his way through a few more of the oysters and mini- tostadas.

"A project got loose and in trying to find his 'father', ended up taking over everything up there, took down communications and caused general chaos for a few hours," he explained. "It's all good now, or so I'm told."

"Well, that's good... at least it doesn't sound like something that wanted to blow everything up," she chuckled slightly. "Been a while since we've had something that... normal, I guess is the word. Only in Eureka, right?"

"And MegaKat City," he offered her the last oyster. "This place is calm by my standards."

"Which is still downright scary," she admitted, taking it as a robot brought out a tray with rare-done salmon steaks crusted with roast ginger and spices with a ginger soy and butter sauce. "I did promise more meat," she grinned at the very pleased look on his face.

"Not when you're used to it," he rumbled in anticipation as he served her one steak and himself the other two.

She was glad that she'd gone with her gut and made the extra helpings for him.

"I guess," she nodded.

"You've got your own variety of trouble around here," he pointed out. "I'm glad you got out of that scrape with Melody okay ... never thought she'd go after _you_ of all people. Self-preservation if nothing else."

"Apparently she hadn't caught on that Jo's _so_ not someone to cross, especially right now," she shook her head and tried the salmon. "Or that I'm not a typical Eureka brat. I think I saw Jo turn her holo-belt off for a minute while Dad was busy taking statements and she was guarding the prisoner."

"Serves her right," Chance grumbled. "At least she's out of the way for a good long time now, right where she belongs. And where she can't hurt you, or anybody else who dares to look at me," he added with a slight chuckle.

"Yeah, you should have seen the list of crimes Dad managed to work up for her. I've never seen petty laws put to better use, though Jo still managed a longer list." Zoe snickered. "I think even Taggart and S.A.R.A.H. got into the act."

"It _did_ look pretty creative," Chance chuckled. "By the time I hit the real charges, they almost looked tame. At least it looks like she wasn't to blame for _one_ of the cases ... turns out that Tonya's spray was legitimately just a bad mix, not something she'd doped."

"Amazing things happen," Zoe deadpanned, then giggled. "Nice to know some things around Eureka haven't changed. Projects will bite back on occasion. I take it the food was good?" she asked with a nod towards his clean plate and how happily he'd scarfed down everything that had preceded it.

"Oh yeah," he grinned. "The salmon was something else. Want me to get us something more to drink before the movie?" He offered.

"What would you like, Chance?" S.A.R.A.H. interrupted.

"She's going to insist," Zoe snickered at his startled expression. "Mint tea, please."

"Milk then," Chance chuckled, shaking his head. "It's almost like having a butler or something... just one you can't see."

"Your drinks and the almond macaroons will be in the living room," S.A.R.A.H. informed them.

"As will a little something I saw and thought of you," Zoe said a bit shyly, a mood that didn't last long. "Ready for dessert?"

"Sure," Chance said easily, cocking his head curiously as they stood. "We need to get the dishes taken care of?"

"S.A.R.A.H. will handle it," she said and led the way into the living room to where their snacks were waiting next to a small stuffed tiger wearing biker leathers. "I saw him and thought of you."

"Aww," Chance chuckled, picked up the stuffed tiger and looking at him. He wasn't entirely sure if he should be flattered or not ... the tiger was definitely cute, with a mane of shaggy white hair that would have made Einstein look like a fashion plate.

He decided on flattering though. It was clearly her intent after all.

"He's cute," he smiled, sitting him up on the table next to the couch. "He's not a subtle hint to get my fur trimmed though, is he?" He teased lightly.

"No," Zoe giggled and snuggled up against his side as the lights dimmed and Jurassic Park began. "I like yours just fine," she reached up and scratched behind his ear.

He purred lightly, flicking his ear as she scritched, and a few of the macaroons by the edge of the table surreptitiously disappeared as they both relaxed into enjoying the flicks they both new and enjoyed and the company of the other.

* * *

Chance stretched upwards as he walked to the front door of his home, and paused when he realized that he really did think of this place as home. Less than a year and he really wasn't inclined to go back to MegaKat City, not even after all that had happened with Melody and werewolves and now having at least two AI's in residence at the place.

He shook his head and opened the door, taking in the smells of the meal, candles and sex that Jake had planned for Marie. The menu was very much like what he'd eaten, though he had no doubt that Marie was much more responsive to the aphrodisiac foods. She would have been inclined to. The catnip he could smell traces of would have helped too.

He could see a DVD in the tray of the player, and raised an eyebrow at the distinctly explicit label on it. He shook his head with a slight chuckle as he put it away and closed the player, continuing on back towards the bedroom as he started to strip off his jacket and shirt. He wasn't sure if Jake would be awake or not, honestly. At just after midnight, it was anyone's guess; though the quiet of the place made it likely he was at least faking sleep.

Marie's strap-on was on the floor near the bed when he walked in, and both of them were definitely out cold. It was sweet, to see Jake so relaxed in the arms of a female, and a very pretty one at that.

He smiled softly, heading into the bathroom to wash up for the night. He was pretty sure that it was the electrical strap-on that they'd gotten her for Jake ... he'd probably been through a world of hurt and loving every second of it.

Even odds that he was bloody, or at least had been at one point, though he couldn't smell it for sure over the scent of sex just yet which made it likely they'd cleaned up before they'd passed out.

He made short work of cleaning up and slipped into the bed. Jake murmured and snuggled against him without waking up, the pleasure of the night still heavy in his scent.

Chance smiled and snuggled close, his arm over Jake and Marie, and relaxed into sleep.

All in all, Eureka was being very good to them.


	19. Shadowed Arrivals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Werewolf puppies, fluttercats, fairies and a very kinky Kat are all new to town, and it's quite the debate which of them is causing more chaos for who.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written with Karl Wolfemann

"Hey guys!" Marie called out as she stepped in through the front door of Jake and Chance's house on a bright, sunny, early June day. "You busy?" she asked even as she realized she really should start thinking of this place as her home as well. She was almost completely moved in now, even though she planned to keep her own place available for a while yet.

"Just putting dinner out," Jake poked his head around the corner to the dinning room/ kitchen. "Good timing."

"Good," she grinned, stepping in and pulling in a large cat carrier. "Ready to meet our new roommate?"

"Already?" Chance said as she shut the front door and both toms joined her in the living room.

"Yep; her transformation completed ahead of schedule, her body replaced itself faster than mine did. You guys have some tuna or something, maybe a little fruit?"

"Sure," Chance hurried back to the kitchen to grab something to make friends.

"Hello there," Jake knelt by the carrier and offered his fingers. "Did Marie explain what you are here for?"

"Rest?" The cat mrowled, slipping up to the door of the carrier, sniffing at Jake's fingers.

"Be careful," Marie warned him. "Her jaw strength is about two, three times normal, if she decides to bite for some reason, it'll _hurt_.

"Rest, play, eat well," Jake nodded and opened the carrier door. "No more poking and prodding or pain."

"Sounds good," the white-furred cat purred, coming out and licking Jake's fingers, stretching out her brightly colored feather wings as Marie picked up the carrier and put it away.

"So do you like tuna, apples or oranges?" Chance asked with some of each on a plate, the tuna as fresh as the fruit.

"Tuna, oranges?" She suggested hopefully, sniffing the air.

"Meat and soft fruits are her favorites," Marie said easily. "I'd have picked up some mangoes on the way back, but I wanted to get her somewhere she could relax and stretch out.

"Go for it then," he set the plate down near her. "Can you fly?"

"Yep," she managed to get out between bites, digging in to the tuna and sliced oranges happily.

"I _do_ keep her fed," Marie chuckled. "She just uses a _lot_ of energy keeping herself going."

"The way Chance eats, you'd think we don't keep him fed either," Jake grinned at her. "So does she do open grazing or do we feed her meals?"

"Meals, with the occasional snack... easiest way will just be to leave grapes out for her, preferably somewhere... you mind if I set up some netting, actually?" She asked, looking around a few probable places to hang fruit for their new pet.

"Go ahead," Chance nodded to her. "You know where we have to go."

"I'll get some up tomorrow then," she nodded easily. "Leave grapes hanging, make her exercise her wings a bit. She can fly, but not spectacularly well."

"Better than a cat," the small creature retorted, making both toms laugh.

"Marie ... do you have a name for her, and is she fixed?" Jake asked as he petted the large white fluffball.

"No, yes, and what were you two laughing at?" Marie asked curiously.

"She said that she can fly better than a cat," Jake explained and sat down, coaxing the feline into his lap with a bit of tuna.

"Must have tweaked her intelligence up too," Marie mused as the cat spread her large, feathered wings and jumped up, flapping them to help her leap up into Jake's lap, where she munched on the tuna happily. "So, what do we want to name her?"

"Flap Cat?" Chance suggested half-heartedly.

"Razzle, Lucky, Snowshine," Jake offered.

"Roquet?" Marie mused, pronouncing it 'ro-kay.'

"Razzle!" the feline meowed and licked Jake's fingers.

"Cat chose," Chance translated. "It's Razzle."

"Okay, I'm _almost_ afraid to ask Henry about getting one of those translators for myself, but it's sounding like it'd make my life _much_ easier if I did," Marie giggled.

"Depends on whether or not you want to understand what your subjects are saying," Jake told her, half in warning, as Razzle crawled into his arms and half up his chest to get more attention. "It's not as great as it might sound."

"True," she nodded. "On the other hand, it could end up saving them a lot of pain, and me a lot of frustration trying to figure out exactly what's up."

"I'm sure he'll make one for you," Jake nodded, though most of his attention was on the creature making full use of his lap and chest.

"I'll think about it, bring it up if I end up deciding to try it," she nodded, giggling as Razzle mrowled beneath Jake's chin. "I think somebody just picked their person."

"As long as she doesn't object to me already having two mates, and her not joining them," Jake laughed as Razzle began licking his chin.

"No trouble," Razzle continued to nuzzle and climb until she was nibbling on Jake's ear, perched around his shoulders. "Don't want mate."

"Forward, isn't she?" Chance asked with a grin, reaching up to scritch Razzle between her wings lightly as she purred happily.

"Now ... I heard something about being ready?" Marie prompted them all.

"I'll go grab dinner," Chance chuckled. "Jake's occupied," he winked, standing up and heading into the kitchen to get their food.

"I'm not _that_ occupied," Jake objected and picked Razzle up from his shoulder and put her on the ground before joining Chance in the kitchen with Marie. 

"Could've brought it out," Chance teased as they started to set dinner out on the dining table.

"Yes, but then she would have had more than us," Marie pointed out with a motion towards the white cat with brightly feathered wings that had set about systematically exploring the home.

"So does she get to go out, or do we have to keep her inside?" Jake asked.

"She can go out sometimes, but not anywhere she can fly away," Marie said easily. "I was thinking we could set up a canopy in the back yard some time that she can fly around in outside."

"Shouldn't be hard," Chance decided. "Just some netting and poles, right?"

"Right," she nodded easily. "Even give us a place we can eat outside without having to worry about bugs so much," she mused, grabbing plates and glasses for all of them. "So, what's for dinner?"

"Vincent special stew, fresh bread and finger munchies," Chance said as he began to lay out the offerings. "I forgot to ask what was in any of it."

"Oh sure, 'forgot,'" Marie teased. "You were just scared to hear the ingredients ... and I don't blame you," she giggled.

"Well, this looks like it has plums in it," Chance mused as he opened up the stew. "So it certainly should be interesting."

"Still smells good," Jake grinned as the bowls were passed around to be filled and Marie passed out the multi-grain, fruit-filled rolls.

"You'd almost think he knew I was bringing Razzle home today," she giggled as they all settled down to eat, Razzle following her nose in and flying up onto the table next to Jake, sniffing at the food that was there.

"Who said he didn't?" Jake chuckled and caught her around the middle, swinging her to the ground in an easy motion that left the winged cat a bit surprised. "Table food is for us," he told Razzle seriously.

She blinked up at him, then walked off with a twitch to her tail that seemed to show a mix of surprise and the 'I meant to for that to happen' look that only a cat could pull off.

"Thanks; she should know better, but she hasn't been out of the lab very often," Marie admitted.

"She'll get used to the rules around here soon," Jake smiled slightly. "Particularly about what noises not to investigate too closely."

"That you learn as a matter of self-defense," Marie giggled. "Speaking of strange noises, how's your work going?"

"Quite well," he smiled between bites of stew. "I've been working with Henry on tesseracts, and a glovatrix variant for Global."

"And we've managed to get the shock frame and tesseract worked into your Dad's car," Chance offered. "It got delayed a bit after the Turbokat was flying again, but we managed it."

"Delayed because you wanted to personally test it," Jake teased.

"Hay, I'm not about to let one of your creations go without trying it out," Chance feigned insult.

"Oh God ... please tell me Dad's car doesn't break the sound barrier now," Marie giggled.

"Only if it really, really needs to, and that won't be on the ground," Jake said seriously. "He's not going to get hurt by another rogue creation in it at least."

"That's a good thing," she nodded. "But ... how much _did_ you super-charge it?" She asked him. "And does _he_ know you did?"

"Enough to get him away from another werewolf when it gets loose," Chance said. "There are at least two or three more of those things that are crazy out there."

"Still _supposed_ to be under lock and key, but I know what you mean," she nodded. "You _did_ tell him, right?"

"He got the full briefing and walkthrough," Chance assured her. "Unlike Jake, I don't surprise folks that way."

"Oh _bull_ ," Jake laughed. "Callie, _and_ the little old lady we always had to pull out of ditches!"

"Hey, I would have told Callie before she picked up her car," Chance objected. "You're just sore cause it blew up in your face first, and that old lady had it coming to her."

"I don't think I want to know," Marie giggled, shaking her head as she ate her dinner. "So, obviously _you've_ been keeping busy," she said with an easy grin for Chance.

"Always," he grinned back. "Life's too short not to have fun."

* * *

Taggart reached over to grab his cell phone without even opening his eyes, though by the time he had brought it to his ear he knew that Jo wasn't in the bed, or in the building.

"Taggart here," he said without sounding the half-asleep he really was.

"Taggart, this is Carter. Is Jo there? She hasn't turned up for work, and hasn't signed in for an early patrol either."

"No, she's not here," he was fully awake and up before the words were even out. "She might have gone to den to give birth. We've been expecting it anytime now. I'll find her and let you know."

"Should I call Dr. Moreau, or wait until you're sure what's happened?" Carter asked him easily.

"Wait," Taggart said as he began to pull on hunting clothes. "She might not be in a mood to have company, and she's not the type he is ready to deal with pissed off."

"All right," Carter said, hanging up as Taggart finished suiting up and headed out into the warm morning air. Jo had clearly covered her tracks on the way out ... it was going to make this interesting, though it also suggested that he was probably right about what was up.

She was just shy of ten months along, after all, and he'd watched her slip into her maternal instincts more each day for the past two months. It only proved to him that she was good mother material despite her concerns and issues with it. He slung a high-powered rifle over his shoulder and secured it out of the way, checked his equipment, and began the difficult task of tracking his lover down.

Fortunately, he knew the land better than she did, and knew what she'd be looking for.

He headed back into the hilly regions of the forest, listening carefully for any sound that might indicate she was around, looking for any sign of digging or that she'd set something up to block off an entrance.

The sound of soft-stemmed bushes being ravaged drew him in one direction, and staying downwind of the noise got him close enough to see Jo's huge crinos form tearing into the plants, gathering a large armful of the soft material before picking it up and lumbering off awkwardly on two legs.

He sat his rifle down, where he could grab it with a lunge but where it wouldn't immediately spook the animal part of her, and moved where the wind would give her a better chance of smelling him.

She lifted her head almost immediately and sniffed more deeply.

"Jo?" He called out to her, focusing her attention almost instantly on where he slowly stood to show himself. He watched the conflict in her, the wolf wanting to either run or drive him from her territory, the human recognizing his presence for the desire to be there for her. He waited until her internal duel-nature seemed to come to the decision to find the middle ground when she turned away and headed to her den with the armful of softness.

He quickly read her body language; she wasn't running, she was letting him decide if he was going to follow. He retrieved his rifle, more in case something _else_ in the woods decided to be trouble than for any other reason, and turned to follow her, staying a respectful distance away until he was sure where the den was. He didn't have far to go before the signs of a significant excavation in the packed earth became visible, and after that an opening just large enough for her extended belly as she crawled inside, pushing the vegetation in front of her.

With her rear clear exposed, he could see she was already in the early stages of labor from the twitching of muscles, but it didn't look like her water had broken yet.

He moved off somewhere he wouldn't spook her badly, and where he could get a clear signal, and called the Sheriff.

"Taggart here; Jo's going into labor. Don't worry about it yet, I'll call Moreau if I have to, but you'll be on your own for a few days."

"Understood," Carter replied. "Good luck, and let me know if you need anything."

"Will do," Taggart told him before hanging up, moving closer to see what Jo was doing now. He could hear her moving the vegetation around somewhere inside the den; sounds that gradually died down until it was just her breathing inside.

He carefully moved over towards the mouth of the den; it wasn't huge, but compared to him, it wasn't all _that_ cramped either. He'd certainly been through tighter.

"Jo?" He called down to her. "How's it going?"

There was a long pause, he suspected as she brought enough of her human mind to the fore to process the answer.

"Slowly," she finally told him, along with the sound of movement as she shifted around only a few yards ahead.

"Think you'll want Dr. Moreau down here, in case something goes wrong?" He crawled closer to where he could see her. The den was roomier than he'd expected at first, though still a bit short and cramped. She'd excavated it so she could stretch out fully across any two points, but not tall enough to walk on more than all fours.

"He'll just want me to go to the lab," she grumbled, her voice hinting at the pain as a light contraction rippled along her lower body.

"He'd also accept that you have the right to stay out here," Taggart pointed out, thinking through the other options all the same. "What about his daughter?" She had the training to handle something like this a normal midwife wouldn't ... about the only person who did.

"All right," she agreed with an odd sound of pain as her water broke. "Marie ... she can come."

Taggart backed out to call her. She fit into the den much better, if nothing else, and knew more about the various changes that Jo's body had gone through than anybody _but_ her father. He might be a top veterinarian, but she was the one who was more than vaguely familiar with the broad list of complications that could come up.

He'd tried to be, but there was a lot that _nobody_ seemed to know for sure.

"Hello?" a groggy female voice answered him after several rings.

"Marie? This is Taggart; if you can come out, Jo's going into labor, and I'd like a little help from somebody who has more than half an idea of what's going on with the werewolf end of things. She'd rather have you here than your father."

"Okay," she mumbled as she dragged her brain and body fully awake. "Where is she? GPS if need to."

"I'll send the coordinates to your PDA; bring hiking boots, if you have 'em."

"I will," she promised. "She likely to object to a guard or two outside the den? Chance is already looking ready to object."

"As long as they stay outside, she'll probably be okay with it, but _not_ very many of them, and keep any weapons they have hidden."

"Just Chance and maybe Jake," she promised. "No problem. Be there shortly," she promised before hanging up.

* * *

"Jo? How's it going?" Taggart called down a few days later, the pups yipping and whining slightly deeper in the den with their mother.

"Are they ever _not_ hungry?" She grumbled, the deep tone marking her crinos form.

"If they're anything like regular puppies, only when they're sleeping," he admitted, crawling down to join her. "How are you holding up?"

"As hungry as they've been," she admitted and stood with a lateral stretch. "Can you deal with them while I hunt?"

"Sure," he nodded easily. "It'll give me a chance to do their checkups... want a rifle, or going to go hunting like that?"

"Like this," she muttered and crawled into the tunnel. "Probably pass out otherwise."

"Give a howl if anything's wrong," he told her as she headed out, then turned to look the pups over. Fortunately, shortly after they'd been born, he'd been sure to be nearby so they could start getting used to his scent near their mother's. Without their eyes and ears open, it was the only way they'd know he wasn't a threat. While it wouldn't have been an issue with most newborn creatures, these pups were a solid thirty pounds each and had their mother's teeth and claws already.

"Hello Zack," he said to the only male, a stunningly handsome multi-tone brown pup.

Zack lifted his head slightly and tried to find the source of the muted noise. Taggart smiled; they were hearing sounds, that was good. He reached down, stroking his head lightly, letting him smell his hand before he started making sure that he hadn't been hurt or started developing strangely in the couple days. He'd already seen enough to know that two of the females, Jessie and Terra, were quite aggressive towards him, and his mother was much less likely to break things up when he was the target than if it was one of the girls.

He'd been as careful as he could be when bringing it up as casually as he could, and he was sure that Jo had taken more of an interest in protecting him from his sisters since.

As he inspected the puppy, he quietly recorded his findings; Moreau would kill him if he didn't take down everything he saw with the first natural werewolves ever.

It still surprised Taggart every time he saw the puppies. Born the size of a medium adult dog, but looking like normal wolf puppies, he couldn't help but think back to the time he'd had an assistant that bred Chihuahuas and helped deliver some Great Dane puppies. She couldn't help but comment on the newborns being bigger than her full-grown dogs.

She'd probably have had a coronary looking at these.

Finishing with Zack, he gave the male a light scritching until he'd calmed down, then moved on to Jessie as she belly scooted closer to inspect him.

"Hello there, Jessie," he greeted the black pup with a gray blaze down her face and gray star on her chest.

She whined softly in greeting and pushed her head against his hand for attention.

He chuckled, giving her a light scritching before starting to inspect her, carefully. She was definitely the alpha of the pups; she was the loudest of them, normally, and the most aggressive about getting what she wanted. About the only reason he'd been allowed to look at Zack first was because she'd been busy trying to follow her mother when he started.

It was definitely strange, with such large puppies, to see them with eyes shut and ears and legs barely working.

"You are going to be such a handful when you start to grow," he chuckled softly. Unlike Zack and Mina, Jessie resisted strongly when he gently rolled her to her back. She wasn't afraid or angry with it, he'd witnessed the snarls and snapping that happened to both those emotions, she simply did not want to roll over and made sure he knew that even when he could force her too, it was not her idea.

She was the largest of the litter, outweighing Terra by nearly five pounds already, and he had no doubt that when she acquired a taste for fresh meat it would be a challenge to keep her from hunting inappropriate prey until she was old enough to understand the difference between pets, people and animals.

It was going to be very interesting ... he just hoped that she'd be intelligent enough by then to accept an easier meal over something fresh.

"Okay, you get going," he said easily as he finished checking her out, crawling over towards Mina next as Jessie rolled back onto all fours and gave an indignant yip before scooting towards Zack and sinking her teeth into a conveniently located rear leg to vent her frustration.

Zack yelped, scrambling to try and get away for a moment before Taggart could turn, putting Jessie on her side and holding her there after making her release her brother.

"No chewing on folks who haven't done anything to you," he told her calmly. She couldn't understand him, he was sure, but he was going to make the point one way or another.

Given how big she was _going_ to get, he couldn't afford not to.

She growled at him, but she could feel in her body that she was done fighting him for the day. That usually meant she would behave for a few hours.

Taggart released her to vent her temper on the bedding while he shifted to examine the damage to Zack's leg. Despite the puppy whimpers, once Taggart used a moist baby wipe to clean the blood off, the injury had already healed for the most part.

"Zack is healing _very_ rapidly," he noted into his recording. "Bite wasn't severe, but still should have taken more than five minutes to heal properly." He took a few minutes to make sure that things would stay calm for a bit, then went back over to Mina, who had scooted herself over to see if Jessie was okay and gotten a growling whine for her efforts.

"Okay, Mina, let's see how you are growing," he said as he gently put his hands on the mellowest of the three female pups. He was still honestly surprised that they were starting to show very distinct personalities at only a few days.

She was doing fairly well. Not as well as Jessie, of course, but not bad. Her gray coat bristled lightly as Jessie and Terra started whining and making other puppy-noises back and forth. He smoothed her fur out, noticing that she was developing a nice pattern of varying shades, before making his way over to Terra to see what was going on, and check on her.

The pair didn't seem to be up to anything more than a non-moving tug-of-war over a branch, and Taggart was able to do most of his examination of the brown, gray and rust colored sister before she found him annoying enough to drop the stick from her jaws and try to push him away with her nose. She wasn't as aggressive as Jessie, but she was definitely not shy about anything either.

They were going to be a pair of terrors as they grew older.

He heard Jo coming back outside just as he finished checking them all out and making sure that Zack was cleaned up. Just in time for the pups to catch her scent and began to squirm towards the den's entrance, whining and yipping happily at her return and the promise of food that she meant.

Jo's muzzle was still wet with blood, but having seen her eat at a kill, he knew she'd made some effort to clean up. She nuzzled each of her pups, smelling them and Taggart's scent on them, before she settled down and stretched out on her side so her pups could nurse.

"Everything go well?" she asked once she stopped squirming at the unpleasant sensations of fanged mouths suckling on her swollen nipples.

"Jessie's going to be a hellion eventually, but otherwise yes. She bit Zack, but he seems to heal almost as fast as you do."

"I'm not surprised, and good," Jo nodded as she began to relax. "Otherwise they are healthy and on track?"

"They seem to be," he nodded. "So, hunt went well?"

"Yes," she nodded. "I'm looking forward to not being hungry all the time again. Does this," she motioned to the squirming puppies, "mean I don't need to take all those supplements anymore?"

"Yes, though you might end up back on some of them if they're taking too much out of you," he said, reaching over to stroke her head lightly. "When do you think you'll be up for coming in out of here?"

"I don't know," she admitted with a sigh. "I can shift at will again, but there isn't much point when I have to nurse them so often. When are they likely to be able to see and walk?"

"Another week, give or take a few days, for their eyes, and a month or so for walking around if they follow canine timing. I'd just been thinking you might be more comfortable in a house than out here."

"Definitely, but something in me can't move them yet," she grumbled. "Maybe when their eyes open."

"That'll probably be ... your instincts might fight you up to when they've started to move around on their own, but hopefully it won't last that long. At least you've got a good time of year for it," he pointed out.

"I guess," she murmured and shifted to nuzzle him. "Are you ready to keep them under control at the bunker?"

"I'll be able to by the end of the week," he promised her. "You don't have to come in until you're ready though."

"I'm well past being ready to be done with all this," she said. "Just waiting for the wolf instincts to die down enough that I can be."

"That's part of what I meant," he admitted, giving her a light kiss. "Carter'll be glad to have you back, but things are holding up pretty well for now."

"At least there are small miracles," she signed and let her eyes drift closed. "I'm so ready to go back to normal."

"As normal as anything is around here," he chuckled, staying close to her for a while longer before leaving quietly to go start the day's work.

* * *

"Hey Jake; ready for something to eat?" Chance called from the door to the hangar where Jake was finishing up some tweaks to the Turbokat Mk II, the rebuilt production model of his prize creation.

"Lunch already?" he glanced over at his partner, and began to climb down even before the answer came.

"I figured it was close enough that it would be by the time I got your attention," Chance chuckled. "At a good point to take a break?"

"Like there are ever such things," Jake winked at him and walked over for a quick kiss. "It's good enough," he purred as Chance rolled with the public display and slid an arm around Jake's waist as they headed for the elevators.

"Well, that's something," the tabby purred. "You're in a friendly mood this afternoon," he observed as they waited for the elevators to open and Jake leaned against him warmly.

"Been feeling a little lonely," Jake admitted with a nuzzle. "We haven't gotten much time to ourselves lately."

"We should fix that," Chance murmured, kissing him lightly as the elevator doors opened and they walked into the empty box. "I'm sure Marie wouldn't mind."

"No, she wouldn't," Jake licked at Chance's mouth to gain admittance while he gently fondled the tabby's crotch through his jeans. "Mind swinging by my office before lunch so I can grab something?"

"Mmm ... anything like what you're grabbing now?" Chance asked with a low purr.

"A little appetizer from it," he pressed against his mate and reached out to press the button for the level and section of his lab. "Just a little something."

"Sounds good to me," Chance purred deeply, pressing Jake back against the wall and kissing him heatedly as the elevator rode down to his office. They were both hard and a little breathless when the door opened and they had to keep things discreet for the short walk to privacy that they both wanted very badly right now.

"Camera in here's off, right?" Chance asked Jake as soon as the door was closed.

"Yes," he nearly groaned as he slid to his knees and unzipped Chance's jeans to nuzzle the hard, fragrant flesh they had captured.

"Oh yeah," Chance moaned as Jake worked him out of his pants. "Mmm ... you're right, been too long since we've done something like this."

Jake just grinned and cupped Chance's balls in one hand, his fingers caressing the velvety fur coating the heavy orbs, while he took the tip of his cock into his mouth and ran his tongue around the smooth, cylindrical head, teasing the slit with each pass.

Chance reached down, massaging Jake's ears as he let his eyes drift closed, fighting not to make too much noise and get them caught by somebody passing by. Jake was making it both easy and hard with how well he knew his mate, and how to drive him crazy with the gradual moving down his cock of his mouth and tongue.

"It's fairly soundproof," Jake crooned in a brief break before he took Chance all the way in until his nose was pressed against Chance's pubes and the edge of his sheath was wetted in his mouth.

"Good," Chance moaned deeply, his eyes rolling back as he thrust lightly into Jake's mouth, enjoying the warmth and the familiar expertise of his mate's attention. "Damn... love your idea of a snack...."

He could only groan deeply when Jake chuckled around his cock, then began to bob his head up and down, working Chance's rubbery barbs with every motion.

"Love you, Jake," Chance panted, his balls twitching, pre flowing into the lean tom's mouth as Jake worked him, eager to taste his mate's seed. Chance felt his balls tighten from the pleasure of Jake's efforts, and only held back a few more bobs before he gave in and roared with Jake's tongue on the head of his cock. It was the closest thing to control he had, to give Jake a full taste of himself as he came.

His hips twitched as he emptied his balls into Jake's mouth, his fingers stroking Jake's sensitive ears. He could smell both their arousal, and knew that Jake was as hard as he'd been... the temptation was there to offer to return the favor, but they only had so much time.

"Nnngh ... gonna have to thank you properly once we're home tonight," he purred as Jake cleaned him off and tucked him back in his jeans.

"I'm looking forward to it," Jake purred into a deep kiss that tasted more of Chance than himself. "I got what I wanted right now."

"Good, 'cause we won't have time to eat if we do anything more," Chance winked, flipping on the switch for the fans in the office before they headed out and back towards the cafeteria. "And you really _should_ have lunch."

"So what's the hurry today?" Jake asked curiously.

"Who said there was a hurry?" Chance chuckled. "I just know that if I give you what you probably _really_ want, it'll be two before we remember you're supposed to be working again," he winked, then groaned lightly as his cell phone rang.

"And Henry having a couple more wrecks than he can handle might come through with its traditionally lousy timing," he added, pulling his phone out and flipping it open, confirming that it was Henry. "Furlong," he answered it.

"If you're with Clawson, would you bring that jet of yours out to around my place? We have an alien aircraft in trouble, and I believe I recognize the markings as Enforcer and Pumadyne," he explained quickly.

"We'll be there," Chance said sharply, hanging up and grabbing Jake's hand. "Hangar, now. Something from back home, Enforcer or Pumadyne."

"Ah _crud_ ," Jake hissed as they skidded into an open elevator and he called the TurboKat to Global's hangar by remote. "At least it's not Omega."

"Tell me about it. The last thing we need around here is Dark Kat or Viper... Hell, could you imagine what'd happen if Viper managed to con Stark into hiring him?" Chance shuddered.

"I _so_ don't want to think about that," Jake gave a shudder of his own as they bolted out of the elevator on the floor that led to the hangar. Reaching the expansive space, they were changing into their second set of SWAT gear with an ease that belied the amount of time since they'd had to worry about it. The hangar door opened to admit the TurboKat.

She flicked upwards in a VTOL landing for her Kats when they finished dressing for battle.

"All systems ready," Razor said after the briefest of pre-flight checks.

"Good," T-Bone nodded slightly. "So... what do you think the odds are Felina's mixed up in this now?" He asked as they took off again and veered towards Henry's. "Anything on radar?"

"It's got a small profile, but it's just over Henry's garage," Razor said. "I doubt she's flight testing, but it would be fitting."

"Which way is it heading?" T-Bone asked easily. "And straight, or does it look like another dogfight?"

"Looks like Henry was right, it's trying to land on the open space near his place," Razor said.

"Hope whoever that is is a _real_ good pilot," T-Bone muttered. "Going to try to get it on radio," he said, keying it up.

"Unknown craft; reverse your direction, there's an airfield this way."

There was no reply on the airwaves, but it shakily pulled out of a landing approach and pushed the engines a bit more to follow the TurboKat.

"Are you able to respond?" T-Bone asked, turning to lead the way back to one of Global's airstrips. "Razor, get us a landing strip."

"We're clear on all runways, emergency teams are standing by," he responded on the open frequency. That statement got the new craft to angle down towards the two landing strips visible in front of them, the wings shaking violently as the pilot fought hard for what little control he had to land nose up and on his belly.

"Think you can catch her?" T-Bone asked him, bringing the jet up.

"If we have to, but it looks like she'll land okay with the foam they're putting down," Razor said. "The gripper claw is still on board."

"Good," T-Bone murmured, getting out of the way, but staying close enough to catch the new arrival if necessary. "Hate to see the only other Kat here buy it like that."

"Hate to see _anybody_ buy it like that," Razor murmured, then winced as the large jet touched down and began to skid in the thick foam until it finally stopped. "We'd better get down there so the pilot has someone to talk to right off."

"Already on it," T-Bone nodded, bringing the jet down for a careful VTOL landing. They both made short work of the distance to the new jet that Henry was checking out with an engineer's eye and Carter was looking at as a very uneasy cop.

Both toms recognized the outline and mass of a large Xanith tom when the cockpit slid back and a very shaken pilot in a Pumadyne flight suit looked out at the humans present before focusing on the two Kats.

"Are you okay?" T-Bone called out and made his way towards the badly damaged jet with Razor close behind him. "Hell of a landing you had there."

"Y-yes," the pilot answered after taking off his helmet to reveal a black face with orange-red and white Tiger markings. "Where am I?"

"Earth, United States, Oregon, a place called Eureka," T-Bone explained. "Who are you, and what happened to you?"

"I'm Lurin Bengal, a test pilot for Pumadyne," he jumped to the ground unsteadily. "I was taking the XPE-15a for a test flight when PastMaster cast some kind of spell nearby. Next thing I knew I was trying to not die by nose-dive." He paused and really assessed the two toms facing him. "You really are the SWAT Kats, aren't you?"

"Last time I checked," T-Bone chuckled slightly. "We ended up here about the same way... there's nothing on there that's likely to explode, is there?" He asked, nodding towards the jet.

"Not unless a fire starts near the full cells," Lurin shook his head, then glanced towards the humans nervously. "So ... now what?"

"Don't worry, they're good guys," T-Bone reassured him. "We'll get you a translator and then get you settled in somewhere, until we can figure out what you're going to do longer-term."

"Go home," Lurin all but challenged them to say it couldn't happen. "But a translator sounds like a good first step."

"Hey, if you can figure out a way to do it, more power to you," T-Bone said easily. "But it'll probably take some time, and you're gonna need somewhere to stay until then. C'mon, we'll get you hooked up with a translator."

"What all is he promising him?" Carter asked Razor quietly. "If anything?"

"A translator and a place to stay until his future is sorted out," he answered as the Xanith followed T-Bone towards Henry. "Nothing you didn't give us. That's a Xanith, by the way, a Kat descended from the great cats, instead of the small cats like us. He looks like a Tiger/Panther mix, maybe with something else too."

"Are most Kats able to tell another's heritage like that?" Allison asked curiously.

"Yeah," he nodded. "Chance is just a tabby, but I've got a lot of Caracal and Golden Cat in me. Lurin's size marks him as a Xanith, a big one at that. A Xanith with that black base color usually comes from Panther heritage, and the orange and white tiger-markings are likely from a Tiger. There might be more in there, he's got a distinctive look even for a mixed-breed, but those are the dominant bloodlines."

"Not somebody you know then?" Allison asked him as Henry climbed into his truck, digging around for the translator he'd been working on for his own eventual use.

"No, but he is a Pumadyne test pilot, and he got here the same way we did. I won't vouch for his character, but he's definitely a skilled pilot and cool under pressure."

"I'm also a designer," Lurin offered, hearing what Razor was saying. "Mostly armored and armed vehicles."

"You'll fit right in here then," Razor grinned at him. "Ground, air, water?"

"There's a difference?" He asked, raising an eyebrow with a half-grin of his own. "I specialize in multi-function vehicles, though most of what gets produced is ground or air specific. It's difficult to find qualified operators, particularly amongst the Enforcers, for anything more complicated."

"No kidding," Razor rolled his eyes. "You'll find the same problem here, though they would like to think otherwise. Better range of test operators though, and much more willingness to train extensively for something really good. The Marine Corps will love you."

"Marine Corps?" Lurin asked. "And who is it that we should be speaking to about this?"

"Dr. Stark," Razor said. "He's that one," he motioned to the dark haired, austere male walking towards them. "Oh, and guys do look like guys here," he added with a bit of a grin. "This is Sheriff Carter, the head of local law enforcement."

"Sheriff," Lurin said politely, taking a moment to put in the translator that Henry came out with. "Sheriff Carter?"

"Yes," he nodded and extended a hand to the feline man a solid two feet taller than he was and built like the linebacker from hell. "Welcome to Eureka, ...."

"Dr Lurin Bengal," he supplied and shook the sheriff's hand. "A pleasure to meet you and Dr. Stark," he said with a nod towards the thinner man. "I hope I haven't caused too much trouble with my unexpected arrival."

"We are beginning to get used to it," Stark said dryly. "Welcome to Eureka. We would advise you avoid public contact until we can outfit you with a holo-belt. Earth does not generally acknowledge any race beyond human as having rights."

"I see. How long do you think that will take? I would like to try and start working on how to get home as soon as it's feasible."

"A day, possibly two," Stark told him. "You should be able to do some work as soon as we move your craft to a secure hanger. I am sure your fellow Kats will be eager to see what you can add to their efforts."

"How much progress have you been able to make?" Lurin asked them curiously.

"Enough to know it's going to be a royal pain in the tail without a time mage," Razor grumbled. "Possible, but not soon."

"Do you know what it was that brought you here?" Lurin asked him, glancing back at his own wrecked jet. "I have some guesses in my case...."

"Dimensional radar reacting with PastMaster's spell," Razor said with a shrug. "I can recreate everything but the magical energy."

"If you'd be willing to let me see what you've got now, I might be able to come up with some options," Lurin said easily. "I have a certain amount of experience with making energy systems work better than they're supposed to."

"All right," Razor nodded, and glanced at T-Bone when the bigger tom nearly choked. "I'll bring the TurboKat over once we've worked yours out."

"Great," Lurin grinned. "If I could get some help with that one, I wasn't the primary designer," he admitted as Henry directed the crew loading the jet in a flatbed truck to transport it to a secure hanger away from the main complex.

"Let's follow it then," Razor motioned to Henry's truck before he jumped on the back, leaving room in the cab for Henry and Lurin.

* * *

"Think we should take dinner in for him?" Chance asked Marie later that night as the two of them finished their own food. "Hey, Razz," he chuckled as the winged cat flew up onto his lap to nose the edge of his plate, earning a leftover rib bone to gnaw on for a bit.

"He probably won't eat otherwise," she nodded with a sigh and began to pick up. "I bet Lurin is just as bad too."

"Probably ... that guy worries me," Chance admitted. "And it's not gonna be long before he knows who we are."

"This isn't MegaKat City, Chance," she reminded him. "You don't have to hide here."

"Maybe not, but if he manages to find a way back? Gonna be hard to keep it quiet back home if he doesn't want to keep it that way."

"You're planning on leaving then, if you can?" she almost managed to keep the hesitation from the question.

"I dunno," he admitted. "A lot of it... it'll depend on what Lurin can tell us about how things are going. I like it here," he said, looking over at Marie. "And I _know_ Jake does."

"You think the two of them can do what Jake hasn't been able to?" she asked quietly, not sure what to wish for.

"I know that anything's possible if Jake works on it and has the resources," Chance said softly. "And if he's got help that knows how to get him those resources... yeah. It'll take 'em a while, but it's going to happen eventually if it's possible."

"Sounds like our job for a while is to make sure they eat and sleep while they're working this one out," Marie turned her attention to make two good meals from leftovers and what they had on hand.

"Yeah... and making sure that Lurin doesn't try to pull anything. Jake'll come down off the rush eventually though."

"Any idea how long that'll take?" she raised an eyebrow at him.

"Probably a few days," Chance said easily. "We ought to be able to get him to come home after that... this happens every time he's on a new project, so unless they hit some major breakthrough it shouldn't last longer."

"Then here is hoping for major breakthroughs to wait a while," Marie smiled at him and packed the meal into an insulated picnic bag. "What about Lurin bothers you?"

"Eh... probably nothing," Chance admitted. "There's something familiar about him, I think, and he just gives me the creeps a bit. Nothing I can _really_ put my finger on."

"Well, I think I'll hope you're wrong, and keep a close eye on him for a while then," she nodded. "Do you want to come when dinner is delivered?"

"Yeah," Chance chuckled. "If there's any trouble, I'd better be there for it, right? It's probably just that he's from Pumadyne... they almost always mean trouble when we end up hearing about them."

"And it's one of those companies that hurt Jake so much," she didn't have to guess at it. "Then let's go feed out mate and check out the new guy."

"I'll drive," Chance half-grinned, grabbing the keys. "Surprise him?"

"Even if we tried not to," she rolled her eyes as they headed to her car. "Remember when he got into the last three projects?"

"Yeah, but I _think_ he'd remember if we told him," Chance chuckled.

* * *

Meanwhile, in one of the secondary hangars at GD, Lurin and Razor were working on the wreckage of the jet he'd arrived in.

"So ... you're really Razor?" Lurin asked him as they worked.

"Yes," he nodded after pausing a moment. "When did the SWAT Kats disappear from your MegaKat City?"

"About five months or so," the Xanith said easily. "At least since Feral started having to have his own men keep things from blowing up. This," he said, indicating the trashed jet, "was supposed to help give them an easier time of it."

"And didn't quite work out, like the last half-dozen jets they've tried to upgrade to," Razor half-chuckled. "On the plus side, I've put a lot of jets back together from worse shape than this."

"I'll bet you've had to," Lurin chuckled. "So... what are the odds I'll find out who's behind the mask some day?" He asked Razor curiously, and kept his reaction to the way the small, lean tom froze to himself, giving Razor the time and room to answer.

"If you haven't in a month, I'm going to really start to wonder about you," Razor finally admitted. "We haven't kept it much of a secret here."

"Can't blame you... even back home, most of the city thought you were heroes, only really Feral to watch out for," Lurin said conversationally, going back into the wreckage to work on some repairs.

"Feral, any cop, bounty hunter, mobster or gangster looking to make a name for themselves, and a couple dozen Omega's that we've pissed off over the years," Razor shook his head, his voice quiet. "We didn't keep quiet about or civilian ID's just to stay out of jail."

"Right ... well, it's not an issue out here. I understand if you want to keep it from me though, as long as you can. Just let me know if I push anything, okay? I'm a bit of a fan," the Xanith admitted, making private note of how uneasy it seemed to make Razor. It wasn't fear of discovery, not really in Lurin's opinion, but and uneasiness that ran much deeper 

"No, not here, but if we get back home ...." Razor left the sentence unfinished. He didn't need to say any more.

"So, what do you think about the jet?" Lurin asked Razor after a moment, hoping to take the conversation into safer territory.

"She's very good for something intended for the production line," Razor decided easily. "Not as good as the Production TurboKat I just finished for Global. What's her name?"

"The Red Peregrine," Lurin said easily. "Almost ended up being saddled with being the Blue Manx, Mk II, but somebody talked the marketing staff out of it," he chuckled.

"Lucky jet," Razor grinned. "Lucky she got sent here with a good pilot too. Not many could have landed after that and walked away."

"I've gotten used to flying things that try to blow up under me," Lurin chuckled. "Part of test piloting for Pumadyne."

"So was the transmitter out, or were you just too busy trying to survive?" Razor asked curiously as he began to pick a frayed section of wire apart with his claws. "I'm fairly sure you could hear us."

"Too busy trying to keep it in the air and figure out what was going on," he said easily, pulling out the instrumentation panel. "I went from being over the badlands to over the forest in no time, after all."

"I know the feeling," Razor told him with honest empathy. "Though around the twelfth or so time it happens, you kind of get used to it in an odd way."

"I can imagine," Lurin chuckled. "What is it that you think brought you here this time?"

"The dimensional radar interacting with PastMaster's spell."

"What is it your dimensional radar does? We don't have anything by that name in the Peregrine, but that's not too surprising."

"It's a system that can screen out bad weather, pollution, deal with topography and buildings, had a significantly extended range and was capable of correlating satellite data into its readout. One of my better creations, really." Razor explained.

"Sounds similar to the systems in here," Lurin was saying when he noticed a very primitive looking biped feline and a buff tabby tomkat walk in carrying what smelled of food. "I think dinner might be here for you," he observed.

"Probably both of us," he chuckled and glanced to see whether Chance was as T-Bone or himself as the pair approched. "It can't be _that_ late yet," he objected half-heartedly.

"It's late enough," Marie chuckled. "We already ate, but we figured that you two wouldn't if we didn't remind you to."

"So back away from the remains before we have to drag you," Chance crossed his arms and glared at them. Even thought it was unlikely he could physically manage it with the Xanith, he'd proven his willingness with his partner often enough over the years.

"All right, all right, I give," Razor laughed and held his hands up briefly.

"Good," Marie smirked, setting the food down on one of the counters nearby. "Lurin, I hope you're up for spicy food, because these two are addicted to it."

"I'll live," the Xanith chuckled deeply and pulled up a stool not really big enough for him to the counter.

"Not _everything_ is spicy," Jake countered as he opened the package and offered Lurin one of the plates packed on top. "He cooks for you too."

"Yeah, but most of what's left was on the spicy end of things," Marie giggled. "So, you're from Aristal?" She asked Lurin curiously.

"Yes," he nodded politely to her even as he eagerly claimed a fair portion of the food for himself. "MegaKat City, though I was born in Sayden Bay.

"Well, from what I've heard it sounds like you moved up in the world," she chuckled. "How have things been going?"

"Fairly well," Lurin said. "We have found that a similar technology was in both jets and they were hit with similar energy just before the jump."

"I was thinking more about MKC," Marie admitted. "If you're willing to talk about it, it'd be good to know how the place has held up since SWAT hasn't been there."

"The Enforcers have held things together fairly well," he admitted a bit reluctantly. "They're still outclassed, but they're getting better at using their numbers to make up for it."

"Well, that sounds good," Marie observed. "At least for what it sounds like it was like."

"MegaKat City is still a dangerous place to live because of the Omegas, but they haven't taken over either," Lurin nodded and made himself a tortilla wrap of the various offerings. "I wouldn't say it's any better, but it's not as bad as a lot of folks thought."

"What about Callie and the Ferals?" Chance asked as he sat down to watch Lurin, still not quite able to place what bugged him about the Xanith.

"She's still Deputy Mayor, Feral is still Commander ... what other Feral is there?" Lurin asked with a bit of an uncertain look.

"If you're from our MKC, the Lieutenant Commander," Chance said easily. "If you're not... could be none."

"Commander's niece and second-in-command," Razor added.

"Ah, her," Lurin nodded. "I've seen her on the news now and then. I don't know about now, but I think it was a couple weeks ago she gave some kind of update to Anne Gora."

"Well, that's good. Manx Towers manage to get blown up again yet?" Chance asked with a chuckle.

"Two months ago," Lurin laughed deeply. "Repairs are well underway again. Some things never change."

"At least Feral can't blame you guys for this one," Marie chuckled, shaking her head.

"No, I think he blamed it on the Metallikats this time," Lurin chuckled. "So, how have the SWAT Kats been keeping themselves busy? It seems a quiet enough place here."

"Not even remotely," Chance shook his head. "We've had nearly as much action here as back home, just different kinds of monsters. Give it a couple months, something'll happen."

"As bad as the Omegas back home, hmm?"

"Not usually, but once in a while it can be," Marie nodded. "Fortunately, the real bad one isn't an issue anymore."

"And the local Enforcer equivalent are noticeably more competent," Chance chimed in.

"And much better armed, though typically outnumbered," Razor added between bites of spicy jerk chicken. "It's his deputy that is the dangerous one though. You do _not_ piss off that fem if you like your hide intact."

"Or her boyfriend, the local animal control officer," Chance grinned. "Taggart's serious news too."

"He recognizes that we're not his territory, right?" Lurin half-chuckled. "I've already figured out that we look quite a bit like some of the local ones."

"The general rule is that if it talks, it's her turf. If not, it's his," Razor explained.

"Not counting things that only talk because of the translators ... it gets complicated, if you think about it too hard," Chance chuckled slightly, shaking his head. "So we try not to."

"Fair enough," Lurin chuckled. "So, where are you from?" He asked, looking over at Marie curiously. "You're clearly not a normal human, and don't look like most Kats."

"I'm a geneticist," she smiled at him. "I was born human and reworked my DNA to become a Cat."

"Impressive work," he said sincerely, looking her up and down. "Clearly not a Kat, but I wouldn't have guessed you were originally human."

"I wasn't trying for a Kat either," she said. "I had already begun the process when the guys arrived."

"Ah... so, you're a local friend of theirs?"

"Yes," she nodded. "They were the first two aliens to show up, you're only the third."

"Unless you count the TurboKat as the third," Razor chuckled a bit. "Which most don't."

"Well, I can't really blame them for that," Lurin chuckled. "She's a good jet, but she's still just a jet."

"That can talk, transfer between systems and is smarter than all but a handful of people," a distinctly irate female voice came out of nowhere.

"That would be the TurboKat," Razor smiled faintly at Lurin's open surprise. "She's a fully mobile AI."

"I didn't think any of those actually existed, aside from Zed," Lurin murmured. "Your own development?"

"She's the level beyond Zed," Razor said with no small amount of pride. "He was locked into his hardware. She isn't, and yes, to an extent I developed her. She did much of her own development."

"Very impressive... the Metallikats are similar, as I understand, but they apparently aren't particularly artificial either."

"Or intelligent," Chance cracked.

"No, they were people transferred into mechanical bodies," Razor nodded. "They also can't transfer themselves at will. It requires specialized equipment that they blew up years ago."

"For all that it's kept them from taking over one mechanical object after another over the years," Lurin grumbled. "Hackle's space explorers ... that was irritating to say the least."

"Irritating?" Chance asked curiously, his heart rate spiking as he got a sick feeling in his gut he couldn't ignore and couldn't place as anything more than a bad feeling.

"I was involved with the build team," Lurin said easily. "Seeing them used against _my_ city and then destroyed the way they were by a pair of rejects who couldn't make it in Sayden Bay's underworld...." He growled lowly, shaking his head.

"Yeah, that would suck," Razor said sympathetically. His partner remained uneasy, but let it go as a specific.

"So, how'd two guys manage to get something like the Turbokat built without the Enforcers or Pumadyne backing you? Or are the rumors that you're some sort of black project true?" Lurin asked easily.

"A brilliant designer and mechanic and a lot of long hours," Chance told him with a mixture of frustration and real pride. "No, it's just the two of us."

"Even more impressive," Lurin grinned. "Mind if I pick your brain about it?"

"I am _not_ an _it_!" TurboKat roared loud enough to rattle all their skulls. "And I know more about my creation than anyone," she added at a more reasonable tone.

"Blackie. Chill." Razor ordered sharply, his tone very much the one you'd take with a temperamental child. "He didn't mean to insult you and I know you should know that by now."

"Can we leave now?" Chance whispered to Marie, seriously unsettled by the exchange and already backing out of the hanger a bit. "Please?"

"Well, you guys have gotten food, so we're going to go let you work," Marie said easily. "Try to remember to get some sleep at some point?" She teased Jake lightly, giving him a quick kiss before turning to follow Chance out, leaving the two designers behind them.


	20. Of Giant Asparagus and Pain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Strange things, even by Eureka and MegaKat City standards, began to appear around Eureka even as Jake and Lurin find a common ground in bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written with Karl Wolfemann

Three days later, Chance had finally managed to drag Jake out of the hangar for a bit ... at least long enough to meet with Stark, Beverly, and Allison over lunch to discuss their new arrival.

"How's the reconstruction going?" Dr. Stark asked Jake as the two Kats arrived, hoping to keep Jake's interest through the meeting.

"Quite well," Jake said. "For all the damage to the undercarriage, it had very little actual damage. She's capable of flying again. A good jet too, for all she's very conventional in design."

"Conventional isn't necessarily a bad thing," Allison chuckled. "Particularly not for one with multiple designers."

"So, what are your impressions of him?" Beverly asked Jake curiously as Chance went up to order their lunch.

"Brilliant, stubborn, sick of dumbing down his ideas to get them built," he started with the praise. "He makes me uneasy too. It's nothing obvious, but his choice of words, what he's been involved in as a whole ... I suspect he has worked extensively with Omegas."

"Do you think he's dangerous? Moreso than usual," Stark asked.

"Inherently, no more than I am," he shook his head. "I'm not sure how deep he is in the criminal mindset. If he's just not fussy about his employer, he not really a threat. If he enjoys the chaos it creates, he's very much so. I'm not sure which he is yet."

"It might be a good idea for me to speak with him further," Beverly pointed out. "I've got a bit of experience at realizing when the mad scientists are _really_ mad... if it comes up, could I get you and Chance to back me up on saying that it's typical for me to have numerous sessions with a displaced new arrival? Things are finally slowing down after Jaeger's rampages, so I actually have the time to do it now."

"No problem," Jake nodded to her and smiled at his partner as Chance came back with their meals.

"Okay, so what did I just get volunteered for?" Chance asked them both. 

"To tell Lurin that multiple sessions with Beverly are normal," Jake said.

"Aren't they?" he chuckled and sat down.

"Usually," Beverly smiled. "But usually when there's a known reason, rather than just being sure he isn't having problems with the displacement. Thanks for your support on this."

"It's worth it to know that we won't be bringing somebody on staff who's going to build a suitcase nuke," Stark pointed out.

"Oh, he won't," Jake assured him, then turned grim. "They aren't worth the effort for the destructive punch."

"Besides, if he's connected to the Omegas back home, he'd go for the full-scale thing," Chance muttered.

"This isn't helping much," Stark pointed out. "Do the two of you _honestly_ believe that he's a serious risk? Beyond the issue of his ability to be one if he wants to be."

"I'd watch him carefully," Chance said. "I don't have any proof, but my gut tells me he's not on the level."

"Agreed," Jake nodded. "He hasn't _done_ anything to warrant more than being kept careful track of. He just makes both of us uneasy."

"Which could easily just be us being nervous about somebody from back home knowing who we are," Chance admitted.

"And my initial impressions of him are similar," Beverly added. "He doesn't seem to have any active intention of causing harm here. He's smart enough to realize that we're probably his best chance of ever getting home."

"All right," Stark nodded. "Keep an eye on him, as you can ... as long as we're on the subject of people you've been working with, how's Deputy Lupo?"

"In a much better temperament now that the puppies have been born, though she still can not make herself leave them or her crinos form for long," Beverly summarized the situation. "She has not allowed anyone other than Dr. Taggart and Dr. Marie Moreau to enter the den and inspect the puppies, but he has said that they are healthy, putting on an average of a pound a day and following the growth patterns of a large dog breed so far. It is too early to have any real idea about their IQ or human levels, though he had indicated they have definite personalities already. At this rate she should be able to return to duty in three to six weeks."

"I'm sure Sheriff Carter will be glad to hear that," Allison chuckled. "Though she'll probably be ready to skin him when she does get back."

"Either for leaving so much paperwork unfinished, or by finishing it wrong," Beverly smiled with a soft laugh. "She is not the most tolerant person of imperfection."

"You're telling us?" Chance laughed. "He's working on the paperwork right now, at least based on what I saw on the way by... who knows, maybe with a month he'll catch up. How long you think it'll be before she's up for visitors again?"

"Dr. Moreau will likely know before I do," Beverly told him. "I'm not on the approved visitors list yet."

"Meaning?" Stark raised an eyebrow at her.

"Meaning that Dr. Taggart refuses to guarantee she won't feed me to her pups if I do show up. I find it unlikely to happen, but without more cause, I do not have the need to tempt fate with her."

"Hardly the worst reception you've had, but we'll keep that in mind," Stark murmured.

"It is actually a good sign," she told him. "It means that her maternal instincts are strong enough to overcome all her issues with them and how it happened. She is taking good care of her children. Until Dr. Taggart's report, I was not sure if she would, or if she would kill them as soon as she was alone with them."

"Marie was pretty sure she wouldn't, but it was always kind of touch and go there," Chance nodded. "If you guys need to talk about anything else we shouldn't hear, we can grab what's left of our lunch and leave you be," he offered.

"We are done with what you need to be here for," Stark nodded to them. "Go ahead."

"See you around," Chance said easily, the two Kats packing up their lunches and heading out.

* * *

It was early afternoon when Jake pulled into the long driveway to his home. Very early to break for the day, but he wasn't about to refuse Marie's request. Still, he couldn't help but wonder at her odd tone, or the cryptic comment about planning.

Three vehicles were already there. Marie's in its usual spot, her mother's and Cindy's, but Chance was notably absent. He pulled up next to his fiancée's cyclotron and parked.

"Thank God you're here," Marie chuckled weakly as Jake came in the door. "Seems Mom and Cindy found something they agree on; we need to do more work on figuring out what's going to happen with the wedding."

"Enough to drag us both away from important work," he rolled his eyes and nodded. "What's happened so far?" he asked as he closed the door behind him.

"So far, they've brought out pictures of wedding dress designs from around here and gone on about trying to sort out if we're going for Earth, Aristal, or a mix. I _think_ I'm supposed to be more enthusiastic about this, but I guess it just seems too far away to get wound up about yet," Marie admitted and got a kiss.

"Well let's go face it together," he nuzzled her gently. "It can't be that bad this early on."

"Mmm ... true, the odds are against you falling for Cindy and running off with her, and even more against it with my Mom," Marie teased, hooking her arm around his and leading him in.

"I _so_ did not need that mental image," Jake shook his head with a laugh as they headed into the living room where the other two women were waiting with a wide spread of pictures of everything from gowns to buildings to cakes and food.

"Interesting conversation?" Jessica asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Just teasing," Marie chuckled. "So, where were you two?"

"Trying to figure out what world's weddings you two will be working with," Cindy said easily. "And we're going to need a primer; last time I asked Chance he just about fainted."

"That's because you weren't clear about _why_ you were asking," Marie pointed out, shaking her head.

"He probably wouldn't have given the right variant anyway," Jake said as he sat down across from them around the rectangular glass and marble coffee table. "We aren't from the same background. As for what ... it should be a mix by the definition of the ceremony I believe in. Each party brings in the elements that are important to them. Marriage is an agreement among equals."

"So why don't you elaborate on what yours is? We all have a pretty good idea of the Earth one," Cindy pointed out. "Aristal's... that's another issue."

"Okay," he leaned back and focused on what they would need to know. "First a little background. Aristal is a world of a hundred deities. Bastet is the most important to most Kat cultures, but there are many others, major and minor. Every divine role has at least one male and one female representation. A wedding is a ceremony that calls on them as much as on mortal authority. There was a time when a wedding was considered void if an avatar did not make an appearance."

"Does it matter if the people getting married follow the gods in question?" Marie asked him.

"You shouldn't choose a god you do not feel some connection to," Jake said as he tried to find an answer to an idea that literally had no corollary in his world. "You don't have to be an active follower, no. The choosing is about telling the truth."

"Any suggestions for me?" Marie asked him honestly. "I don't really know who they are besides Bastet, and I don't think that fertility and motherhood are really a good set to go for, for me."

"How about hearing the point of it all first?" Jake asked.

"Sorry," she blushed. "Go on; I think about things like this one step at a time, that's all."

"The ceremony itself is more complicated than most I've see here," he admitted. "The ones performing the ceremony are the first to take their place in the temple. Then those getting married, their sponsor, close kin and supporters enter and stand in the front between the officiator and where the witnesses sit. Only then do the guests and public enter and take their seats.

"At this point those being married are dressed in their best finery, but as themselves.

"Go on," Marie murmured, thinking through what he was talking about and what might be involved in converting it to be performed on Earth. She was also trying hard to read between the lines for what he might never thing to say because he lived in a world that only had one religion. A lack of exposure to differences never helped such situations.

Jake nodded. "Once everyone is ready, each sponsor introduces the person their are sponsoring by full name, their important relatives, titles, accomplishments and anything else that might make a favorable impression on the others. They state the dowry being given to the new household. You can sponsor yourself, and in modern times it's fairly common.

"When each sponsor is done, the others in the wedding can either accept or reject the individual and dowry on any point. These days it's mostly a holdover from very old times when arranged marriages and politics were much more involved in marriage than it is today. When marriage was something common Kats didn't bother with.

"If there is a rejection, it goes into something of a public negotiation where the rejected party can offer a higher dowry or other appeasement to counter the objection brought up. This cycle continues until all parties have agreed to who is being married and what will be exchanged to who for the agreement." Jake paused and looked around to see if there where any lost looks yet.

"It all makes sense so far, at least the basics," Jessica said easily. "Wasn't that long ago we didn't do the same thing, and some folks still do."

"Now it goes to the congregation, the audience," Jake said. "They are asked if they have an reason to object to the wedding. While rare, they must be addressed and dealt with before the ceremony can continue. There are records of these things going on for weeks as various parties dicker about things, but outside of various kinds of royalty, it would be extremely unusual. At this point it is assumed that the marriage will be acceptable to all mortal authorities. There is no division between the ceremony and the legal side of things."

"Those getting married redress as the deities they have chosen to present as. While they do so the family and supporters join the congregation so only those getting married and doing the marrying are within the temple shrine, a place in front which always includes the deity of the temple at the center of the back part.

"The ceremony beings with a simple blessing, explains what terms those getting married have agreed to such as the level of monogamy, who the young belong to and names and family links coming into place to everyone. It's the version of what you use as a pre-nuptial agreement. This is considered a legally binding agreement in and of itself," he paused again for a check to make sure he hadn't lost or completely freaked anyone out.

"So ... why do they dress as the deities for this part of the wedding?" Jessica asked. "Changing half-way through?"

"You change dress when you change roles," he tried to put together a good explanation. "The first part you are dealing with mortal authorities as your mortal self. The second half you are saying your oaths not just before the gods, but as them. To break an oath you speak as a god brings their punishment on you, not just a mortal penalty. By allowing you to represent yourself as them while you say the oaths, the gods accept some responsibility for you keeping the oaths as well."

"No wonder it's important to be one you're a good match with," Marie murmured. "Go on, if there's more."

Jake nodded. "Each person getting married then states their vows to each of the others and offers a token of their marriage that can be accepted or rejected. The odds of getting to this stage and then rejecting the object is next to nill, but it's there. Once accepted, the person receiving the token puts it on themselves as a symbol of their free will in entering into this agreement.

"After that, the priestess does some talking, a few more blessings influenced by what those getting married want of their union, a final general blessing and the formal end of things is over. You dress as yourself again, and the celebrations begin. Some families and traditions have specific elements for the celebration, but I'm not into any of them beyond the basics of feeding everyone well."

"I think it's a good thing we've got two years to arrange this yet," Cindy murmured. "To try and do it right, even if we work parts of it out in favor of ones from around here, it's gonna take a lot of organizing."

"Marie's side can be completely from here if she wants," he said, not completely sure what was going to be so complicated given none of them had much family and didn't need a dowry. "And I do understand that some elements can't work, like an actual priestess officiating. Even if they aren't around to hear me, it's the intent that counts at this point."

"That's good," Jessica nodded. "We're just going to need to find somebody to stand in for one; I doubt we're going to find any local priests who'd be willing."

"We've got ways around that," Cindy said confidently. "Neo-pagan, preferably eclectic, or somebody from the ULC ... we can find somebody who can fill in the role. It actually lines up reasonably well with things from around here, if I understand it right. A bit more complicated, but it's all there."

"Egypt, circa 1000 B.C.," Jake nodded. "You look up Bast or Bastet and Ancient Egypt is all over the results. There are some folks still practicing a variant, but they might object to the less accurate elements in it. Socially, Stark or Carter would fit quiet well. The officiator fills the roll of the Lawgiver after all."

"Stark would probably be the closest from our end," Jessica mused. "He wouldn't be fond of the dressing up, I'm sure, but he wouldn't be at all likely to object either. Wouldn't be the first wedding he's been involved with either."

"I'll see if we can find someone who'd actually enjoy the opportunity to officiate first," Cindy giggled. "He has such a sour face for such a lively and lovely event. So how much do you want to go Aristal on this, Marie?"

"I think most of it can, honestly," she murmured, thinking it through. "There are only a few parts of what come from Earth that I feel like I'd really want to work in... are there traditional vows for an Aristal wedding, or is it more individual?"

"There are the basic ideas of expressing support, lifelong caring for and desire for each other, but the wording is pretty individual. Even today when a ceremony is relatively common, only those who really want one bother with it. It's not really like it is here, that way. It's not needed for social acceptance or benefits."

"Would using the traditional vows from here, with a few changes, be okay?" She asked him. "Obviously, we'd have to work on a _couple_ details, but most of them are things that I've looked forward to saying," she admitted.

"If they mean something to you, and they are the truth, it is what should be said," Jake nodded. "What are they?"

"Usually they include promises to love, comfort, and keep each other, forsaking all others, in good times and bad, until death do us part... obviously, for us, it'd take a little re-working, particularly the 'forsaking all others' part. There's Chance, if nobody else."

"And that neither of you are all that keen on some of my kinks," he added quietly. "It sounds fairly compatible with what is typically said."

"I noticed that you left out the 'honor and obey,' part," Cindy teased Marie lightly.

"I know that that one isn't necessarily a given," Marie chuckled. "Honestly, there's not too much that I can think of that's something I'd _really_ want to work in. Wasn't really attached to any particular faith's ceremony ... we'll probably work out the final details as we go along."

"As usual," Jake nodded. "Honor I can see. Obey ... I don't think I like the connotations there."

"At least in the traditional vows, it's a mutual element," Jessica offered. "So, what time of year would you want to have this?"

"Late spring or early summer," Jake glanced at Marie for an okay. "It's ... not quite tradition, but it's a preference."

"Sounds good to me... wouldn't that mean that kittens would be born about... just short of one year later?" Marie guessed, running the math through her head. "Late spring?"

"A bit over ten months here, but six to seven months back home and in early spring," he said with a bit of a nod. "The best chance they'd have to survive."

"Not really an issue for us, but I don't have any problem with the timing," she said easily. "Having second thoughts about no kits?"

"No, but if I'm going this deep into the traditions, it might as well be all of them," he sort of shrugged, though there was no mistaking that it really did mean something to him, even without any intentions for kittens.

"Well this one's fine; it's a tradition for both of us," Cindy offered. "June weddings are pretty typical, I suspect for the same reason... kids'd be born in March. So, what's Chance's role in this likely to be?"

"That depends a bit on him," Jake admitted. "Normally, he'd be up there with us, as part of the ceremony. He's been my mate for a long time, and it gives him a lot of rights in the acceptance phase of things. More than even I have. Typically, it would be a three-party wedding so it would lay out the relationships for everyone. Here, I'm not sure how well that would go."

"It depends on the guests," Marie admitted. "But I'm open to him being up there... he's important to me too, after all."

"The guest-list is _definitely_ going to have to be watched if it's going to be a three-way wedding, even if it doesn't 'count' as one officially," Jessica warned them.

"I don't think we're going to be that worried about having lots of guests there, Mom," Marie pointed out. "At least not ones from outside Eureka."

"The legality is iffy at best anyway, given it's two Kats and a Cat involved in this. None of us are human," Jake reminded her as well. "Your laws and legal history are very clear on the point that only humans have any rights to speak of. Maybe in a few years that will change, but as of right now it wouldn't pass muster no matter the spin you try to put on it."

"He's got a point," Cindy nodded almost reluctantly. "The ceremony doesn't count for anything in the eyes of the law."

"Be one Hell of a way to spring a test case though," Marie mused. "Especially since I started out as human. But isn't your paperwork complete enough to give you a paper trail as human?" She asked Jake.

"Should be, but it's not real so it can always be revealed as fake if you dig hard enough," he shrugged. "It's not like we're doing this for the legal end anyway," he paused and glanced at her. "Right?"

"Right," she smiled. "I didn't just say yes so it would be legal, at any rate... I said it because, legal or not, it's what I want with you."

"Okay, now that that's settled, what about food, the cake, what you'll wear, dress code for the guests?" Cindy drove the conversation back to planning.

"No idea, bring pictures, later and dress nice?" Jake suggested, his tone strongly suggesting that it was time to leave.

"Well, we've hardly -" Marie cut Cindy and Jessica both off.

"Mom? Cindy? He _also_ didn't have any warning, and neither did I," Marie pointed out. "Next week, maybe? We _do_ have a couple years yet."

"You really should think more about this," Jessica insisted, though she stood. "It is supposed to be the most important day of your lives."

"That we disagree on," Jake said softly, his voice devoid of argument as he stood to show them out.

"And even if it is, there's time to put into it other days," Marie pointed out again, ushering Jessica and Marie out. "Thanks for your help with this; we'll set up another time in advance to work on it more." She closed the door, groaning a bit as she leaned lightly against Jake.

"Well," she giggled after a moment, "you're the one who proposed...."

"Yes, I did," he murmured and turned to draw her into his arms. "Though I admit I didn't fully understand what I was getting myself into."

"Mmm ... back stage access to the Bruener and Moreau families, whether you like it or not," she giggled, turning to lick his nose affectionately. "Love you, Jake ... so, we have a bit of time to ourselves before Chance is back from his date?"

"I expect so," he nuzzled her neck affectionately before shifting back and tipping her face up to meet his eyes. "I do want to hear what you've dreamed of for your wedding, before they come back."

"Mmm ... not all _that_ many details," she admitted with a blush, kissing him. "But I'll try to think back to when I dreamed about wearing something white that wasn't a lab coat," she promised.

"Good, because this is supposed to be about you too, not just my heritage," he said with a tender hug.

"I know," she smiled. "And I'll do my best... it might tie into the things I wear before changing more," she mused, hugging him back. "C'mon... I think we both need to go relax in the tub for a bit," she winked, leading him to the master bathroom.

"No argument here," he grinned, more than happy to get off the subject of the ceremony for a while.

* * *

"So do you take all your girls here?" Zoe asked teasingly when Chance pulled to a stop in a stretch of open grass near a happily bubbling creek deep in Eureka's forest.

"Nah," Chance chuckled. "I just figured the lake wasn't the best place ... Jake almost drowning in it twice kinda takes the edge off the view."

"Yeah, I can imagine," she nodded more seriously. "How is he doing? And what is this I hear about him not marrying you?"

"Erm ... he already has," Chance pointed out. "At least as much as it matters to us. Back home... ceremonies aren't the big thing. We're mates, there's not really that much difference between 'mates' and 'married' except for the ceremony."

"No legal advantages to marriage?" she cocked her head as he spread out a blanket for the small picnic Vincent had packed for them.

"Not that you don't get for being mates," Chance said easily. "You go and get the paperwork done, and you've got the whole thing. Don't need the wedding ceremony for that."

"How civilized," she murmured and sat down after putting the basket in the middle of the blanket. "Amazing how they almost managed to make it feel like real cotton," she added as she ran her hand along the blanket.

"Yeah, it's as close to a natural product as I could find," Chance chuckled. "So, how've you and your Dad been doing?"

"Pretty good. He's finally starting to relax again, after all that's happened," she said, intentionally glossing over the key points that had had him so wound up. "How's Jo doing? The rumors are just wild about her absence."

"As far as I know, she's fine, just staying home to keep an eye on the pups," Chance said easily. "Marie's been in to see them once or twice, but they're as off-limits to us as to anybody else. She should be back soon though... maybe a month," he said, pulling out their boxed lunches.

"I think Dad's both dreading it and can't wait," Zoe almost giggled. "She's a lot of what keeps that office in order, and some of the folks. You really don't mind that Marie's getting a big ceremony and you aren't?"

"Are you kidding?" Chance laughed, shaking his head. "Trust me, the weddings I've seen are a lot of noise ... it means something to Jake, but I think he's only really doing it because here it's part of what you're expected to. Besides, knowing him it'll end up being a three way as soon as he thinks about it."

"As long as she agrees to that," she didn't quite mask how hard that was to believe. "Sleeping with you both is one thing, but sharing her _wedding_ with you? Even if you could find somebody to do it, it's crazy."

"Which is one of the reasons I'm not worried about it," Chance shrugged a bit. "Weddings weren't a big thing for my family ... too expensive to arrange, and happened too often for some branches of it."

"I know folks like that," she nodded slightly and got a piece of double-fried Styrian rooster with a spiced breading. "I guess it just seems kind of weird still. It's still a big deal, I guess."

"Around here it seems to be," Chance nodded. "Why are you worried about it though?" He asked, looking over at her curiously. "Folks talking?" He asked with a chuckle.

"Donno," she shrugged. "Maybe just my baggage over Mom and Dad."

"Just wondering," he said, taking some chicken for himself. "For what it's worth, it doesn't bug me... and I think folks would look at it a little more weirdly if I _did_ marry him officially. After all, I don't exactly behave like the usual married man."

"Neither does he, for that matter," Zoe pointed out with a bit of a smile. "He did get a girlfriend pretty much as soon as he got a job."

"And for back home, that's pretty normal," Chance chuckled. "So... you want to talk about it?"

"Not really," she shook her head and paid attention to her food for a while. "It just sucks being the kid when your folks can't stand each other. Neither wanted to deal with me for long. It's gotten better, mostly."

"That's good," he nodded slightly. "Has your Dad forgiven me for giving you the cyclotron yet?" He asked with a grin.

"Most days," she grinned back. "Ress gives him far more grief than anything I do on that bike, which _rocks_ by the way."

"Good to know," Chance grinned. "Y'have time to go out for a ride after lunch?"

"Oh yeah," she assured him. "There's always time to ride."

"Great," he grinned. "We can go give her a workout later then," he winked.

"On the tracks, so we don't have to worry about Dad?" she asked hopefully.

"Oh yeah," Chance nodded seriously. "Trust me, after everything that's happened here, I only cut loose on the real roads when there's an emergency... it makes for being a lot more credible when I tell him that there was a real reason for it."

"That and I bet you don't stop until he can see the reason for himself," she laughed teasingly. "Vincent sure outdid himself, again."

"Yeah ... on both counts," Chance grinned, finishing off his soda. "You ready to go?"

"Sure," she nodded and quickly packed up. "Anything particular in mind?"

"Nah," he chuckled. "Just a few runs around the track, maybe one of the test runs if they've got the stuff set up." He picked up the blanket and the last of what they'd brought with them, starting back for their bikes with Zoe... then stopping dead.

"Or we can see if Seth knows anything about giant asparagus," he murmured, looking up at the plant in question where an oak tree had been on their way in.

"Only in Eureka," Zoe shook her head and dialed her father without thinking.

"One would hope," Chance murmured, shaking his own head. "I suppose we should wait here, at least until your Dad makes it out?"

"Yeah, we should," she nodded reluctantly. "Hi Dad," she greeted him when he answered his phone. "Chance and I are looking at a tree-sized asparagus that wasn't there an hour ago."

"I'd say you were kidding... but that's a little weird for a joke," Carter admitted. "Have your GPS on, I'll be out there soon... give Seth a call, will you? This might have a perfectly Eureka explanation."

"Will do, Dad," she promised and hung up before scrolling through the Eureka directory for the farmer's number and calling it. "Hi, Seth," she greeted him. "Running and experiments on giant asparagus?"

"Is this some sort of prank...? Who is this?"

"Nope, just that we've got one in the woods that's standing about twenty feet tall, maybe closer to thirty. And it's Zoe Carter."

"A thirty foot asparagus? I'll be right there. This I've got to see... but this is some sort of prank, your father'll be hearing about this!"

"My Dad is the one who asked me to call you. He's already on his way out. Just track my GPS. I'm not going anywhere," she told him.

"Right... I'll be right out."

"You know," Chance observed as Zoe hung up, "things like this really make you stop, take stock of your life, and ask when it got so terribly, terribly fucked up."

She cocked her head and looked up at the giant veggie. "When Dad ran off the road trying not to run into Lojack, only we didn't know Lojack back then. That was right after I saw us drive the other way on that road."

"Yeah... that'd be pretty weird," he agreed. "In my case... well, I just can't think it's healthy that I honestly _can't_ say that this is the biggest, most absurd phallic symbol I've ever seen."

Zoe swung her head to stare at him, her mouth open for a lingering moment before she gathered her wits again. "Okay, I'll bite. What _was_?"

"A hundred-some-odd story skyscraper with a giant pod on the roof that was going to burst and spread seed all over the city. That was a pretty weird day, even for us," Chance mused.

"Whoa," she shook her head. "That is pretty wild. What was going on?"

"Doctor Viper was planning on turning the city into a giant swamp," Chance explained easily. "Put the pod up on the top of the tallest building in the city, it was supposed to burst and flood the place. But yeah... like I said, when you're staring at something like this, and you know you could top it, there's just got to be something wrong somewhere. Good day though. Not many casualties, and most of those were injuries instead of people getting killed."

"There's something wrong with any place where any day with casualties can be a good day," she sighed. "L.A.'s the same way. Maybe not as weird, but there are no days without murders."

"Most big cities are like that, from what I can tell," Chance mused. "Sucks, really... but hey, you're out of that sort of thing now, and so'm I, that's worth something isn't it?" He asked, trying to get the topic to turn around to something better.

"Yeah," she agreed eagerly. "You're getting more inclined to stay, even if you could go back?"

"More towards it, yeah," Chance nodded. "Especially since it doesn't sound like things have blown up too badly without us ... hasn't been as long back home as it has here, but Feral's had a few months to deal with the usual, and it hasn't managed to kill him or the city."

"That's good to hear," she agreed to it all as the sound of a powerful SUV engine became audible.

"Your father," Chance supplied.

"Now we'll just have to hope Seth doesn't try to blame us for this somehow," Zoe grinned as they heard the sound of his pickup following Carter's SUV.

"Hey, it was an oak tree when we left it here," Chance grinned back.

"I know that, you know that, but he knows he gets blamed for everything like this," she countered and walked up to her father when he pulled to a stop. "See?" she motioned to the strange apparition in the middle of their evergreen forest.

"Ooookay." the Sheriff looked up at it, then shook his head. "I don't suppose you have any friends who've recently become obsessed with Jack and the Beanstalk, do you?"

"Not that I know of," she shook her head. "It was an oak tree an hour ago."

"That's... pretty weird, even for around here. Are you sure...."

"We couldn't have very well missed it on our way out here," Chance pointed out. "And our bikes are just over there," he added, nodding towards the two cyclotrons.

"It wasn't me," Seth volunteered. "It's incredible, but it's not mine yet."

"At least it's not dangerous," Carter sighed. "I'll start digging up who's doing things that could turn and oak into an asparagus," he said and turned to his cruiser.

"When you find them, ask if it works on pines too," Seth called after him. "And have him call me!" He looked back up to it. "I think I'm going to need a backhoe to transplant this...."

"One hell of a backhoe," Chance commented. "Have fun. We're out of here."

"Right... well, seeya," Seth said, clearly distracted by the giant vegetable.

"So, out to the track?" Zoe asked once her father was out of earshot.

"You bet," Chance grinned and pulled his helmet on as she did the same.

* * *

"So, how's it going with your... mates, I'm guessing?" Lurin asked Jake as they worked on the final repairs on his jet the next day. "Hopefully I'm not dominating your time too much?" He chuckled.

"No more than any other project," Jake grinned at him. "And yes, my mates."

"That's good," Lurin chuckled. "I wouldn't want to irritate the only two other people who are even close to being the same species as me here. Aside from working, what is there to do around here?"

"Unauthorized projects, ones that Global doesn't fund or own any rights to are a norm, there are dance and adult clubs that we can go to as ourselves, parties several times a year, a lot of political BS we don't have to worry about because they can't really fire us, target and combat training ranges, war games, and the general excitement when a project gets loose," he ran off the list from the top of his head. "Plenty of dating options among the humans too, if you can get past the looks."

"And with you and your mates?" Lurin asked. "Not sure how exclusive you all are."

"Not very exclusive, but not much on dating guys either," Jake explained. "Chance wonders a lot, but just fems. Marie and I don't normally fool around."

"So, your partners give you everything you want in a lover?" Lurin asked him curiously, moving around behind him, making Jake entirely too conscious of his imposing... and impressive... frame.

Now that Jake was paying attention that way, Lurin had a decidedly aggressive, violent edge to his presence that he couldn't pretend wasn't appealing on many levels.

"Most of the time," he nodded, not sure whether he should be afraid or attracted to this newcomer that stood twice his height.

"And when they don't?" Lurin's tail flicked up between his legs, against Jake's. "Large as Chance is, I have the feeling that there are some things you want that he has a hard time giving you."

"Not for size," Jake shivered, privately cursing his desires and that they were on the rise right now. "But no, he doesn't have the temperament for some of it."

Apparently deciding that he was making progress, Lurin shifted closer, his scent powerful as he dwarfed Jake.

"And if you met somebody else from your own world who did? Would that convince you that a little fooling around would be okay, once in a while?"

"Yes," he tried not to breathe in too deeply, but it didn't help. Right at this moment, he wasn't sure he'd turn anything down.

"Would you like to come over to my place? You could call Chance and Marie so they'd know where you are and won't worry about you." Lurin reached down, running one massively powerful hand down Jake's side. "I'll take _very_ good care of you," he chuckled deeply, enjoying the way the small tom trembled at his touch and the fact that it wasn't out of fear.

"What do you want to do?" Jake eventually managed to ask, trying to get a feel for just how far this was likely to go before he agreed.

"I was thinking about starting with tying you up and seeing what it takes to make you scream," Lurin rumbled lowly. "If I'm reading you right... see just how much you like these," he purred, the tips of his claws pressing out of his fingertips and into Jake's side lightly.

"A great deal," he admitted through a tight throat. It wasn't supposed to go like this. It really wasn't. Even in the first rush of his high school days, when he didn't know any better than to trust whoever he was with, he didn't surrender like this. Marie he could blame on pheromones and her scent. Melody on whatever had been created to drug him. This ... he didn't know what was wrong with him, with his sense of self-preservation or self-control. Nothing more than it didn't seem to be around.

"Should I go on, or would you rather head home and find out for yourself? I don't have the gear to get _too_ extreme," he promised Jake.

Jake licked his whiskers back and shifted to look up at the exotically-colored Xanith with open hunger for what was on offer. "No taste for out in the open?"

"Not at work," Lurin chuckled, nodding up towards the video cameras. "I imagine that even Global has some rules about that sort of thing. Of course, if you know somewhere that _doesn't_ have security cameras running...."

"My office," Jake rumbled deep in his chest as he turned to lean against the workbench they were next to.

"Lead the way then... though I won't be able to go all the way," the Xanith pointed out. "They might be okay with some things in your office, but I don't think they'd be okay with you being bloody on the way out."

"Mmm, you have a point," he agreed reluctantly and headed for the door. "I guess your place works."

"Don't worry, it's not too far," Lurin chuckled, grabbing his large holo-belt before starting out after Jake. "I found one relatively close to here... most vehicle aren't built for somebody my size."

"No doubt, though once you get a couple paychecks, it'll be easier to get one. Humans do come your size, just not often."

"I'm not worried about it," the Xanith smiled as they walked. "Like I said, it isn't far... and if you're eager to get started, there _are_ some nice, secluded woods between here and there."

"True with just about any two points around here," Jake grinned with a not-too-subtle look at Lurin's crotch.

"I take it that's a vote for a convenient clearing then," the Xanith grinned, his human form looking like a powerfully built black man with the frame of a world-class body-builder. "And making them think there's a pair of mountain lions on the loose."

"Around here, that'd be an easy day for Taggart," Jake winked at him, still uneasy deep in his gut but no longer really worrying about it. "After the werewolves, anything you can actually kill isn't much worried about."

"Werewolves?" Lurin asked him curiously as they walked out. "That's something I haven't heard much about."

"Yeah, most folks don't like to talk about it," he admitted, then held his tongue until they were alone in an elevator. "A project from the bio-sciences that lost it's mind and came back about the time we got here to force the Moreau's to create a whole race of them. Killed a lot of folks in the process. It was ugly, even by MKC standards."

"Sounds like it," Lurin nodded. "I could see that being a sore spot with folks. Well, we'll just have to avoid making them think it's a repeat," he winked, reaching down to scritch the back of Jake's neck, his claws out and pricking his scruff. He smiled at the way the small, lithe tom pressed into the contact eagerly, even after the elevator doors opened and they walked into the main foyer of Global's complex.

"You _do_ like this, don't you?" He purred quietly before they stepped out, walking out towards Jake's transport. "So, do you have the car, or a cyclotron with you today?"

"Cyclotron," he answered. "And very much. Care to try and ride to your place?"

"If you don't mind a much larger passenger behind you," Lurin chuckled. "I've been on motorcycles before, if that helps."

"I don't mind," Jake said and shifted direction once they were in the front parking lot towards the distinctive red and blue vehicle.

Lurin followed him, climbing on behind the leaner tom after Jake put his helmet on.

"Sorry the spare isn't big enough for you," Jake said.

"Just don't do anything too crazy right away; it's been a while," he chuckled deeply.

"I'm not the crazy one," Jake grinned back at him and turned the powerful engine on before pulling out smoothly.

"You're still one of the SWAT Kats," Lurin pointed out with a chuckle. "I've always figured crazy came with the territory."

"It's relative," Jake laughed playfully. "Wait till you've spent some time with Jo and Taggart. Even Chance is mellow compared to them."

"Now I'm scared," the Xanith laughed while they rode, wrapping his powerful arms around Jake with a possessive grip. When Jake pressed into the contact, he shifted one hand to play across Jake's crotch with one unsheathed claw. His boldness was rewarded by a low groan as Jake's sheath filled out and the road began to blur a bit with the acceleration.

"Careful... I'm all for getting back soon, but not for doing it after a hospital stay," he rumbled. "Turn left up here."

"We won't crash," Jake assured him as they took the corner with some level of care, though not quite as much as Lurin would have liked.

"I'm counting on that," he said, holding tightly to the lean tom in front of him with a new respect for the risks a SWAT Kat didn't consider dangerous. "That one," he carefully motioned to a home that looked very much like all the three bedroom white-picket-fence type that folks got to start with. Eureka's idea of a factory home. He'd gotten it painted a deep red, but hadn't done much else yet.

"Haven't had much time to spruce it up beyond the painting, but that's got a lot to do with where we've both been since my arrival," he chuckled.

"Unlike our place," Jake said as he pulled into the driveway and came to a smooth stop. He waited for Lurin to get off before he did, then activated the security system without thinking about it.

"Old habits die hard, hmm? The bed's comfortable, at any rate ... somehow, I think that's most of what we'll be seeing tonight," the Xanith grinned, pulling out his keys and walking up to the front door.

"And the shower," Jake added and followed Lurin inside a home that was as home-like as theirs had been that first week. "Do you take as well as give?"

"Not the pain, but the rest," Lurin told him easily and walked through the house to the master bedroom. "Tonight, at least. I'm afraid I need a bit longer before I give up the rest."

"Just curious," Jake said as he checked out the inside of the house on reflex. Largely empty, it contained only the basics for Eureka: computer, plasma TV, some furniture for each room that was sized for the giant but otherwise unremarkable. "It'll be a few weeks before I'm going to be keen on giving, and I have other very nice options."

"That's good," Lurin said easily, turning around to look down at Jake. "There's only been one person I did that for," he admitted. "Can I pick you up?" He asked with a slight chuckle.

"Yes," he purred. "What was he like?"

"Like nobody you've ever met before," Lurin chuckled, picking Jake up and giving him a light kiss on the jaw as he continued towards the bedroom. The furniture in it was larger than what Jake had seen in theirs, but large parts of it didn't even look like they'd been moved, at least not much. The bedroom, at least, looked a little more lived-in and comfortable, with a large, thick bed, the headboard excellent for tying somebody to it, the mattress itself an extra-long king-sized to fit the massive Xanith.

"Kisses like fire, claws like razors... a Panther with eyes like rubies when the light hit them right. I'd been giving pain for a long time, but he showed me entirely new tricks of his own."

"Sounds like they were incredible lessons," Jake breathed in sharply, his body betraying any ideas he had of denying just how deeply he enjoyed his pleasure withed with sharp, cutting pain.

"Mmm... I might show you some of them, though I suspect your mates would object to the last ones," Lurin purred, laying Jake down on the bed, climbing on and looming over him as he slipped a massive paw up under his shirt. "You can get away with more when you're as good a healer as he was... and I'm not," he rumbled, raking his claws down Jake's body, not yet breaking the skin.

"Oh yeah!" Jake lost all concern for the conversation about Lurin's teacher at the promise of claws and a sadist that was also a Kat. It unfurled so many things deep in Jake's mind that had been buried when he realized that he was stuck on this world and would have to make do with humans, or nothing at all.

"Poor little kitten," the Xanith crooned, pulling his hand out and starting to undo Jake's shirt, kissing him, letting his powerful teeth graze his chin. "How long has it been since you've hoped for this?"

"Year," Jake trembled and helped get himself undressed. "Since we landed here."

"Far too long," Lurin rumbled, stripping Jake's shirt off of him and toying with one of Jake's nipples. "What are your limits?"

"Nothing that'll keep me from riding home," he said somewhere between a hungry gasp and very serious warning. "At least today. Chance'll kill you if I end up in the hospital again."

"I won't go that far," Lurin promised, hooking the tip of his claw and piercing Jake's hard nipple, leaning down to lap up the blood that flowed from the wound while he undid the smaller tom's pants. If he had any doubts about the honesty and depth of the masochist under him, they were gone at the hardness he revealed. He was fairly sure that he could make Jake come in his pants with very little effort.

Without a word between them, Jake lifted his wrists up to the headboard and grabbed on. His body trembled and he made no effort to control himself.

Lurin grinned, grabbing one of the pillows and pulling the case off of it roughly, ripping it and using it to tie Jake's hands to the headboard tightly enough that he was sure even the SWAT Kat would have to use his claws to free himself.

"What will you say, if I go too far?" He asked, pulling his own shirt off to reveal a broad, muscular chest covered in thick white fur with black and orange further out.

"Apple," Jake spread his legs as best he could with his pants pulled part way down.

"All right," he purred, undoing his pants and shifting to take them off, his own massive, black cock rigid, the barbs along it stiff. "Ever take a Xanith before?"

"Years ago," Jake nodded, trembling in anticipation. "Dildos your size recently."

"Mmm... good." Lurin picked him up by the hips, sinking his claws deep into the meat of Jake's ass. "If you want prep, tell me now," he warned Jake, rubbing their shafts together.

"No need," he only just didn't come from the first taste in over a year of the kind of treatment Chance just didn't know how to give so perfectly.

Lurin shifted, the thick, throbbing tip of his shaft pressing against Jake's tight pucker before stretching it, the Xanith moaning as he forced his way up into the Kat's impossibly tight body. He knew, instinctively, that this had to hurt Jake some, it was too damn tight not to. He was just as sure that Jake hadn't been lying about his capabilities either.

It was close to the last thought the Xanith had once Jake began to tense his body, milking Lurin's cock with am honest desire to pleasure him that drew a long, deep moan from Lurin.

He raked long, deep gashes in Jake's ass as he started thrusting harder, his barbs rubbing along Jake's prostate as his balls swung up into his tail.

"Oh Bastet," Jake whimpered, his body trembling briefly before he came with a roar, his seed pooling on his upper chest as his body convulsed, desperate to draw his lover's come from him.

Lurin's roar drowned his out, rattling the walls as blast after powerful blast of thick, hot semen poured into his guts, the Xanith's cock buried in him up to the hilt. He stayed there until they both still, panting from the intensity of pleasures neither one had many opportunities to indulge in.

"You are something else," Jake grinned up at him loopily and very happy.

"Mmm ... and _you_ are eager for me to keep going, aren't you?" The Xanith grinned back down at him.

"For as long as we're both conscious," Jake moaned into a deep cry of pleasure-pain as Lurin pulled out of him.

"Then let's see how long you last," he purred hotly, rolling Jake onto his knees and sinking cock and claws both back into the delightfully submissive tom.

* * *

"Chance?" Marie called out as she got home later that day. "I don't suppose Jake made it home yet, did he?"

"Don't you dare be surprised he hasn't," he yelled back at her from where he was engrossed in his latest Wii game.

"Actually, this time I am," she admitted, closing the door behind her and heading back to meet him. "I didn't see his cyclotron in the parking lot, I figured he'd decided to come get some sleep... or a little time with you."

The game was paused faster than she could follow and she had his undivided attention. "He's _not_ at Global?"

"His bike wasn't," she shrugged slightly. "I figured he'd come home. I didn't check the lab, anyways, he might've just parked somewhere different after lunch."

"Might as well take some dinner over. I'm sure they haven't eaten in too long," Chance said and stood with a luxurious stretch. "Whatcha feel like?"

"Mmm ... maybe introduce Lurin to sushi? Think Vincent'd be able to make enough to feed that stomach of his?" Marie asked with a chuckle.

"I'm sure he can," Chance grinned at her. "Want to take a break before dinner, or are you hungry?"

"Mmm... the hungry I'm most interested in can wait until we've checked on whether or not Jake wants to join in," she winked. "It'll take Vincent a while to get the food made though; care to play a round or two of tennis while we wait, after calling it in?" She asked with a grin, grabbing the other Wii-mote.

"You are _on_ ," he grinned back and grabbed the phone to put in their order to an enthusiastic Vincent.

By the time he was done, Marie had swapped Zoe's game out for Wii Sports, and she was waiting for him.

"So, what does the winner get?" She asked him with a broad grin and a purr.

"Mmm, dom for the night?" he suggested their most common prize.

"And first dibs on Jake?" She added easily. "If we can get him home?"

"Oh please," Chance rolled his eyes and picked up the controler. "You know how to get him to move as well as I do."

"Oh please," Chance rolled his eyes and picked up the controller. "You know how to get him to move as well as I do."

"Oh I do," she grinned. "But still, if it's the last few fixes, he's hard to get going. Now c'mon," she winked. "I've got a tabby to school."

"Yeah, right," he snorted and focused on the game.

* * *

"I think I'm going to enjoy tonight," Marie smirked at Chance as they headed out to her car to pick up dinner.

"Yeah, yeah," the Tabby grumbled good-naturedly. "I still think you cheated."

"Excuse me? Watch that mouth, Mister 'oops, I slipped in front of your remote,'" Marie laughed. "Now climb in and buckle up while I think of what I'm going to have you do tonight."

Chance muttered something unintelligible and got in the drivers side, waiting only for her to close her door before pulling into the street.

"Relax, tabby," Marie giggled, buckling in. "I'll make sure you enjoy yourself tonight," she winked. "You _know_ I can, too, after I've had a while to gloat."

"Yeah, yeah, you learned pretty well," he admitted. "You're still more fun on your knees."

"Mmm ... you keep going like that, and I'll have you on more than that," Marie smirked warningly. "I _do_ have friends who'd just _love_ to get videos of you really subbing, you know."

"I probably know all of them too," he pointed out. "And they already have a few."

"Oh I know," she giggled. "I'm still going to enjoy it... you don't _really_ mind, right?"

"I wouldn't have bet if I wasn't willing to pay up," he told her seriously. "Besides, I have an image to keep up," he winked at her as they entered town on main street.

"Oh? And what would that be?" She asked teasingly, flicking her tail against his leg as she got back into her playful mood.

"That I'm your above average macho pilot," he chuckled and pulled up in front of Cafe Diem. "You grab the food?"

"Oh you are," she grinned. "And sure," she added easily, heading in to get their sushi tray and thank Vincent. She was back out shortly, climbing into the car.

"Now, let's go retrieve a tomkat," she grinned.

"Only one?" Chance teased her.

"Unless _you_ were planning on trying to do more with Lurin than have a bit of dinner before going home, yes," Marie teased.

"Not my type," he shook his head with an easy laugh. "Hell, he's not even _Jake's_ type."

"Wouldn't know it by how much time they spend together," Marie chuckled. "Still, while it hasn't done much for his schedule, he's doing great otherwise. Having somebody else from home recognize what he can do agrees with him."

"Can't argue that," he agreed. "It's probably the thing he's wanted most his entire life and I could never help with. It's nice to see him so happy."

"Between the two of them, they could put Boeing out of business," she giggled. "So, feeling better about the big guy now?"

"Honestly, not really," he shook his head as he pulled up near the hanger where Jake and Lurin were currently working. "Something about him just make me uneasy."

"Honestly, not really," he shook his head as he pulled up near the hangar where Jake and Lurin were currently working. "Something about him just make me uneasy."

"Well, maybe you'll figure out what it is... there's Jake's cyclotron, must have just pulled around without telling me," Marie observed, spotting the distinctive bike as they got out of her car.

"I hope so," Chance agreed. "I don't like not liking someone Jake's close to."

"I can understand that," she nodded easily. "Has he said anything about feeling that way too? About Lurin, I mean."

"Yeah," he nodded. "Nothing more specific than I do, though. We're sure he's the type that'll work for anybody, but that's not exactly a crime."

"Nope, not really," she agreed. "Well, let's go have dinner and we can bring Jake home for a while, get some us-time for the three of us. And make you pay for being so bad at tennis," she teased.

"You are far too smug for your own good," he grumbled and scanned his key-card to open the door.

"You're going to enjoy it before I'm done," she giggled, following him in and taking a sniff. "You smell that?" She asked him.

"Yeah," Chance murmured, shock clearly written on his face. "Smells like he is Jake's type after all."

"Hope they didn't do that _in_ the hangar," Marie murmured, speeding up as they hurried in. At least Jake didn't smell like he was in trouble. He smelled pretty happy, and that just didn't sit right when mixed with blood.

"Jake?" Chance called out as they came near the all-but-complete Pumadyne jet.

"Yeah?" Jake called back, his tone distracted but relaxed.

"We brought dinner," Marie called in. "Where's Lurin? You're okay, right?"

"Right here," the Xanith answered her from inside the fuselage, likely where Jake was as well. "Food sounds good."

"Yes, I'm good," Jake assured her as the pair climbed out, fully dressed.

"Just wanted to check... smelled like you'd cut yourself or something," she said, sure that it was the 'or something' as she put the food tray down. "Hope you guys are up for sushi."

"Sushi?" Lurin asked, not completely sure of the translation he got from the device he had hurriedly put in place.

"Fish rolls," Jake grinned at him and walked to his mates. No one was really surprised when Chance caught him in a long, possessive kissing embrace, or that Jake quite willingly melted into it.

"So where should I be careful of?" Chance asked quietly.

"Ass and hips mostly, a few along my back," Jake nuzzled him, clearly quite happy to be in his partner's arms.

"He was good to you?" Chance tipped Jake's chin up.

"Very," Jake moaned softly in memory of what he'd experienced.

"Good," Chance nodded and let him go.

"I hope neither of you mind; Jake wasn't really in a mood to call and warn anybody," Lurin chuckled slightly as Marie gave him a small saucer with a selection of sushi and a small tray of pale-green sauce in the middle.

"Be careful of the wasabi; it's very hot... and no, not really, we're just a little surprised," Marie explained.

"Depends on your definition of hot," Jake teased her and sat down to eat, still snuggled in Chance's arms. "I think it's quite pleasant."

"Yes, but as we've spent some time establishing, you enjoy quite a few things many people find painful," Lurin chuckled, tasting some with a piece of shrimp sushi. "I've had stronger."

"Okay, am I the _only_ person here who doesn't mix masochism and meals?" Marie grumbled good-naturedly.

"Yap," Chance grinned unrepentantly at her as the sushi meal became decidedly flirtatious between Jake and Chance.

"Are they always so playful?" Lurin asked Marie conversationally.

"Chance, only when he's awake," she chuckled. "Jake... not usually, but he's getting better about it."

"It's decidedly cute," Lurin smiled at the pair between two pieces of sushi. "I think I like the sushi here."

"Especially when Jake's getting into it," she nodded. "And good to know... Vincent does more with fish than just about anybody else I know of, or at least knows _how_ to do it. The pizzas he puts together for those two are something else."

"Catnip mixed in?" Lurin asked, openly curious.

"Sometimes -"

" _Not_ the hard stuff, they don't even have it on this world," Chance interrupted her. "And no, those rumors weren't true; be crazier to use the stuff before going in the air."

"You wouldn't be the first, or last, top pilot who used," Lurin told him.

"Doesn't change the fact that I never did while I was flying," Chance said, dead serious. "Some of 'em do, but they don't last ten years in combat like that."

"Guys?" Marie said, trying to distract them a bit. "I don't think anybody meant anything by that."

"No, I'm just surprised, that's all," Lurin tried to explain. "Rumors and all, and not one to really ask about what's true and what's not. It's just one I heard often."

"Well that one wasn't," Chance said, his ears flicking. "Sorry if I overreacted, it was just an irritating one ... somewhere between saying we weren't good enough to do the job without it, and that we got kicked out for a good reason, instead of just to soothe that asshole Feral's ego."

"I never thought of it that way," Lurin admitted. "It seems a pretty harmless thing."

"Well, when you're the best at what you do and nobody knows, hearing 'em say you're not gets on your nerves," Chance admitted with a slight chuckle. "So, how's your dinner?"

"Very good, like everything else I've had here," Lurin said. "Someone is quite a chef."

"Vincent, as always," Marie grinned. "Uhm ... so, whose idea was it?" She asked, glancing between Lurin and Jake.

"A little of both," Jake said, clearly not completely sure and not comfortable telling her that.

"I made the offer," Lurin added. "It's hard to find an appreciative lover when you have my tastes. I learned to have a good sense foe when someone's into pain."

"It's okay, Jake," Marie reassured him, heading over to kiss his cheek lightly. "I just wanted to make sure this wasn't going to turn into something ugly ... you guys don't _always_ have good luck with new friends," she teased lightly, looking back at Lurin. "No offense intended."

"None taken," the Xanith chuckled deeply. "Something recent?" he prodded for more information on the long list of events he'd gotten hints about.

"Up to you guys if you want to talk about it," Marie told Chance and Jake, honestly not sure if they would or not.

"Somebody who decided that 'not interested' meant 'become psychotic stalker'," Chance glossed over it. "Almost killed Jake twice, among others."

"Still kinda pissed about having a vid of something I can't remember any of," Jake grumbled, going as far into the subject as he was likely too.

"I can see why you'd be concerned about him," Lurin nodded easily.

"Yeah... little gunshy yet," Marie smiled slightly, reaching over to scritch Jake's shoulder lightly. "So, are you guys just about done for the night?"

"I get the feeling the answer is yes, regardless of what we say," Lurin chuckled. "He won't resist long between the two of you."

"It's usually pointless to try," Jake relaxed in his mate's embrace. "He's had too many years of practice."

"And I'm a quick study," Marie winked.

"I should probably let the three of you get going then," Lurin smiled, pulling out some more sushi. "Thanks for dinner... again. Maybe once we get the jet put together I'll return the favor?"

"A dangerous offer with Chance," Marie giggled.

"I think I can handle it," Lurin grinned at her. "I'm used to challenges."

"You haven't met the tabby's appetite before," she giggled. "We'll see you around... have a good night."

"You as well," Lurin inclined his head to the threesome as they headed out, and he turned his attention back to his jet.


	21. A Puppy's First Catch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While some have a confab on the state of Eureka, Jessie makes her first catch, though thanks to Taggart, not her first kill.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written with Karl Wolfemann

"I ordered chef's specials for everybody," Zoe grinned as she waved Chance, Jake and Marie over to the booth that she'd staked out for them.

"So what is it today?" Marie asked with a smile as the trio walked over to the booth and sat down, Chance taking the spot next to Zoe and across from Jake, who let Marie sit on the inside of the bench.

"He just grinned and darted into the kitchen when I said I was ordering for the Kats and not my Dad," Zoe giggled. "So what's he like?"

"Assuming you're talking about Lurin, very large," Marie chuckled, taking a drink of water from the glass Vincent brought out. "Seems like a nice enough guy, for the most part. _I_ haven't really gotten a chance to get to know him that much, unlike Jake here."

Zoe nodded, then raised an eyebrow when Jake blushed brightly enough to be seen under his fur. " _That_ well?"

"Just one afternoon," Jake protested weakly.

"I'd been _thinking_ more about the fact that they've been working together on the jet," Marie giggled slightly. "Which is doing pretty well, from what I know."

"Yes," Jake nodded. "It can fly again. "We're mostly doing reverse engineering and playing with it now."

"How's she compare to the TurboKat?" Zoe asked him curiously.

"She's good, but still a decade or more behind her," Jake decided. "A couple really nice features that'll be incorporated in the next upgrade. I'm impressed by whoever did the design work."

"It isn't Lurin, at least not just him?" Zoe guessed.

"Nope, this one was designed by committee, mostly," Chance said easily. "Kinda shows, really, but it came out pretty well despite that."

"He was involved, but not part of the core team," Jake nodded. "His personal designs have a distinctive flare, and he's good, but this isn't his kind of creation."

"Kinda like you," Zoe smiled at him, then glanced up as her father entered the cafe.

"Kind of," Chance chuckled, looking up as Sheriff Carter came over and Vincent brought their meals out. "Hey, Sheriff."

"Hello back," Carter said easily. "Mind if I join you?"

"Not at all," Chance motioned for him to pull up a chair. "Here for lunch?"

"Yep... you guys aren't getting in trouble, are you?" He asked with a chuckle as Marie poked at the intricate fried dish Vincent had brought out, trying to figure out what exactly it was.

"I ... _think_ it's takoyaki," she decided. "Smells different though. And no ... not unless the meal counts," she chuckled.

"I'll eat it if you don't like it," Chance offered selflessly.

"Endless gut," Jake teased him and happily dug into the broiled whole squid that was the centerpiece of his plate.

"Hey, when the food's this good, you bet," Chance grinned.

Marie bit into one of the takoyaki, blinking as she tasted the shavings of fish topping the fried balls of octopus.

"If anybody gets a strange feeling, tell me or Vincent _fast_ ," she warned them. "Not just a little tingling, but anything more than that. Think we've got puffer-fish in these."

"Well, if there's anybody around here who'd know how to do it right, it's Vincent," Zoe offered cheerfully.

Jake looked at her curiously and snagged one of the fried rice balls from her plate before popping it into his mouth.

"You are _so_ overdue for some action," Chance observed dryly.

"Hu?" Carter glanced between them.

"He's looking for excitement in the food," Chance explained. "We're way overdue for some major fight."

"Personally, I'm _plenty_ fine without one happening," Carter said seriously. "Especially since Taggart's still fielding false alarms about stray dogs from the last one."

"We'll just have to find a way for Jake to get some excitement without eating potentially poisonous fish," Marie deadpanned, even as she ate one herself. "Zoe's right though, almost certainly safe, and if there's anywhere that'd have an anti-toxin on hand, it's Eureka."

"You worry far too much," Jake rolled his eyes. "It's good to. The tingle is kinda fun."

"Jake? I'm a research biologist," she pointed out.

"And she _is_ eating it too," Chance chuckled, trying one himself. "Care to join in, Sheriff? I think there's enough to go around between the four of us."

"I think I'll skip the death by food option," he said dryly as the rest of the meals came out, none of them bearing even a vague resemblance to anything he knew how to pronounce. "Any new news on Jo or the pups?"

"Nothing particularly fascinating from the perspective of someone who _isn't_ into the biology," Marie said easily. "They're cute as anything, and Jo will _almost_ let them to the entrance when Taggart's out watching, but it'll still be a while before she lets anybody near them."

"Maybe by next month?" Zoe asked very hopefully.

"I would hope so," Carter smiled at her and began to find things in his meal that he thought he recognized. "She's supposed to come back to work by then. I guess I should be grateful that her doctor isn't making her take the entire ten-and-something weeks off."

"That would be because her doctor knows that's the fastest way to get his head bitten off," Marie giggled. "Trust me, Taggart thinks she should take it, but she'd kill him if he actually suggested it to her."

"True," Carter admitted, between bites. "Just how grumpy is she?"

"She gets grumpier the more time anybody but the pups spends around her; I'd say she usually rates about a 4," Marie chuckled.

"Which translates into...?"

"Convinced that she's the butt of some cosmic joke and grumbling thinly veiled threats about what she'll do if she has to correct a month's backed-up paperwork."

"Nothing new there," Carter sighed. "Might be a good time to take some of that vacation time I have saved up," he mused. "Africa should be far enough away."

"Dad, I think if you tried that, she'd hunt you down just to spite you," Zoe giggled. "She'll be so glad to be back _doing_ something that she won't care when it's done."

"Kid's got a good grip on Jo," Chance chuckled.

"I've noticed," Carter said dryly. "You have no idea what those two have managed when they get together."

"Oh, I think I do," Jake smirked at him. "I live with him, you know," he motioned to the tabby across the table.

"Yeah, but there's only one of him," Carter chuckled. "Now, I've got Zoe and Ress, I figure it's only a matter of time before Jo gets back on her feet and the three of them take over Eureka," he winked at his daughter.

"Mmm, who do you want to bet on, the felines or the canines?" Marie asked with a teasing glint in her eyes.

"Felines all the way," Chance took up the challenge gleefully. "We have the brainiacts on our side."

"No, stop, we are _not_ having you guys warring over the fate of Eureka," Carter laughed, shaking his head. "The world does _not_ need that."

"So back the canines; Ress will settle for her monthly tribute in dog biscuits and Jo will go back to work once we're done," Zoe winked.

"And you?" Marie asked.

"Well _I'd_ be the creative one, of course," Zoe giggled. "But there's only be one of me, not four, like if you guys and Lurin did the job."

"Don't forget Lojack," Jake pointed out. "It'll be four against four."

"I'll go for a monthly tribute of sushi," Chance decided.

"What? No demands for a harem of pretty locals?" Zoe teased.

"He doesn't need tribute to get that," Marie smirked. "He just has to go out to the Heat Wave and ask for volunteers."

"If we can stop plotting the overthrow of Eureka in front of the local Sheriff?" Carter asked dryly. "How's Lurin adjusting, and do you guys still have that bad feeling about him?"

"Yeah," Chance nodded. "That hasn't changed much."

"He's adapting well, though he doesn't like the translator much," Jake added. "He'll only wear it when someone's trying to speak English around him."

"That you're willing to not talk it around him isn't encouraging him to learn the local language any," Marie pointed out.

"Have you ever tried to hold a technical conversation through a translator?" Jake glared at her. "That jet was built in our language. We discuss her in that language."

"Sorry, I ..." Marie stammered, clearly surprised by his sharp reply.

"It's okay," Jake turned back to his meal a bit. "Even with as much English as I know now it's still a bitch trying to talk to other designers. Some things just don't translate well. There's too much history behind various concepts."

"I wasn't trying to say you were doing something _wrong_ ," Marie offered contritely.

"I know," Jake leaned over to nuzzle her. "I'm just enjoying it as much as he is."

"He'll start to work on it more when he's got the reason to... I'd bet he can read pretty well by the end of the month, if that long," Chance said easily. "I get the feeling he picks up whatever information he _needs_ fast."

"True for most who can adapt," Jake nodded.

"So how is Ress doing?" Marie changed the subject. "Or should I ask what is she doing?"

"She's actually listening to us pretty well ... when she wants to," Zoe said easily. "Which is pretty much any time she doesn't know something's up that we don't. Of course, I don't think we're _ever_ going to train her to not hassle Taggart," she snickered.

"Like father, like daughter," Marie giggled. "Any luck tracking down her littermates?"

"Yeah, most of them actually," Carter answered. "Sheriff Cobb has a couple of them, the other two have found reasonably good homes. Sounds like Lojack's been keeping in touch with most of them."

"Any plans for more?" Marie asked. "And can we get them in the lab for some readings?"

"I'll ask about the readings, but I think Taggart would kill somebody if he found out someone was planning on breeding Lojack again," Carter chuckled.

"I seriously doubt this litter was planned by anyone but him," Zoe pointed out. "He's not much on following orders."

"Not too different from my partner," Jake teased.

"Especially when it comes to orders like that," Chance smirked back at Jake. "By the way - any luck figuring out what the heck happened in the woods?"

"Let's see," Carter leaned back and dug up the information in his brain. "I've been told that it is not asparagus, not likely to be from Earth, is edible and does taste like asparagus. Which doesn't really narrow the list of possible 'how's down all that much."

"No, not really ... though I _think_ we can probably bet against aliens trying to use the Earth as farmland," Zoe offered. "After all, they probably wouldn't have just turned a tree into something."

"Rapid mutation _might_ be possible ... unlikely though," Marie mused. "Has anything else like it happened since?"

"Around here, it's hard to tell when something's related at times, but I think we're up to three events now," Carter admitted.

"None from Aristal," Jake added. "At least not anything I'm familiar with."

"Right. Taggart caught a green-furred boar with horns yesterday."

"So _that's_ why everybody was asked about porcine projects," Marie looked startled.

"Yes," Carter nodded. "The other one was a small building. Well-furnished, if fairy-tale like, and only 21 inches high at the top of the chimney."

"Any inhabitants? We don't hear from xenobiology that much," Marie asked him, cocking her head.

"None we could find, though I understand it looked lived in, not just a doll house," Carter told her.

"Strange ... well, I hope whoever was in it just didn't break out and start exploring, or it could be nasty for them. Not all the animals around here recognize not to eat something that tries to talk."

"And not everything small is harmless," Chance added. "Though we'd have probably heard about one of those by now."

"Oh yeah," Carter chuckled slightly. "I would have, at any rate. Well, I'll let you guys puzzle over that; I should probably grab lunch and get back to work, especially if Jo's already thinking about the paperwork."

"And it'll let us get back to plotting and demands," Chance grinned at him. "Have fun in the office."

"See you later... sooner than I'd like at the rate you're going," Carter said, rolling his eyes as he headed up to order his lunch to go.

* * *

"You're all looking good," Taggart said as he crawled into Jo's den. She was out hunting, which gave him the perfect opportunity to do some testing while he puppy-sat.

"Rrauurph!" Jessie barked at him, setting off her cohort sister in a short chorus of objections to his presence. Zack, on the other hand, crawled towards his best protector.

"Shh," he ordered Jessie. She obeyed, after another couple, defiant yips to make the point that she didn't like being told what to do.

"That's better," he said, reaching over to give her a light scritch once she'd calmed down. "Be a lot simpler if you'd just start out like this," he chuckled slightly before checking the other pups out quickly. He didn't need to do a full inspection today.

Today he was going to find out how solid food-motivated they were. They were still too young to have any effective way to judge their IQs, though he suspected they'd grow up smart.

He slipped a small piece of very smelly, rehydrated jerky from a pocket and put it in front of Jessie's nose.

She crawled forward a bit, biting at the softened dried meat and trying to pull it out of his hand. He gave it over after a brief tugging match and watched as she chewed at it with toothless jaws. While she was occupied, he offered a piece to each of the others in order of their rank. Terra first, who went after it even more aggressively than her sister. Then Mina, who sniffed at it and eventually gummed it a bit but didn't show much interest. Zack got his with Taggart squarely between him an his two more domineering sisters, and he went after it eagerly.

"Hungry, aren't you?" Taggart murmured, giving him a light scritch between the ears, and doing the same for Jessie, Terra and Mina once they'd calmed down a ways. 

Jo made sure they all got enough to eat at least, but she didn't seem particularly inclined to worry about whether or not one got more than another. With his more aggressive sisters more than willing to push him away, Zack got the least of the litter, and was probably going to be the runt for life.

Taggart had to wonder if it was just because he was the runt and she refused to support him over the others, or if it was because he was a boy and Jo associated very bad things with male werewolves.

Either way, as soon as they were really ready for solid food, Taggart would be seeing that Zack got extra shares whenever possible. Fairness issues aside, which he couldn't really fault Jo for not thinking about just now, with instincts still driving quite a bit, sometimes being the smallest could be as big a problem as the biggest when sentience was involved.

Jessie soon lost interest in what her brother was eating, crawling over towards Mina and trying to push her away from the jerky the smaller girl was still gumming with half-interest at best.

While Mina gave her a hard bite for it, she gave up the softened jerky without a real struggle.

Taggart would have worried about it, but he knew that it was just a token gesture to remind Jessie that there was a price to pay for taking anything. Mina was more than willing to tear into Jessie, Terra, or even both of them when she really wanted something, whether the attention of their mother, a toy, Zack left alone, or pretty much anything else.

"There's a good girl," he told her, waiting while they finished eating. She wasn't likely to respond to offers of meat particularly well for a while ... he'd have to find something else to entice her in the future. Perhaps she had a taste for sweets; mother's milk was relatively high in sugar after all. He'd have to bring a few cookies tomorrow. At least three of them were going to be easy to bribe into cooperating for the immediate future, and Mina was the cooperative one for the most part until then.

He fished a smaller piece from his pocket and got Terra's attention. "Sit," he said as he lifted the treat above her nose to draw her into the desired position. Though she did sit, she also reached up with paw-like hands to grab his hand and try to pull the treat down to her.

He let her have it; she'd done what he'd wanted, even if she'd gone beyond it, and he still wasn't sure how much he should be teaching them like dogs and how much like people to top it off.

As Terra munched on the treat, he realized that everybody else was sniffing the air, but focused more on the entrance to the den. He looked over, expecting to see Jo coming back, when Jessie pushed herself up in a sort of half-jump, snapping at the air.

He couldn't see anything, but it was obvious by the way she moved and held her mouth that she'd caught something and her siblings were all moving as quickly as they could towards her. Even little Zack was voluntarily headed towards her.

Suddenly, there was a dazzling flash of light and sparks in the corner, and Taggart could see that there was a small, butterfly-winged person dangling from Jessie's mouth, trying to distract them with the display while it struggled to get out. It was working for the others, Terra started to bat at them, but Jessie was focused on her first catch.

"Drop 'er," he ordered Jessie, pulling out another stick of jerky and holding it out to the pup, behind the hand he was holding out for whatever she was holding. That was enough. She didn't exactly drop it into his hand, but she opened her mouth for the meat and let the strange creature go. It tried to fly away, but the puppy-spit soaked butterfly wings were not going to cooperate.

"Relax," he said soothingly, sure the creature wouldn't understand him as he gave Jessie the meat. "Not going to hurt you."

"What _are_ those things?" the tiny fairy asked in perfect English. "No canine has been that big since the ice age."

"You can talk?" He asked, amazed. "In English? What are you?" He asked the tiny... woman, he guessed, that he was holding.

"Of course I can speak English," she shot back. "I'm not stupid. Now what are those things?"

"A new breed... it's a long story," he said, sitting back, more than a little stunned by the little person. "What are you?" He asked again. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're a fairy."

"We prefer Fey, but that's an acceptable variant," she stood on his palm and began to work on drying and preening her wings. "I am Cyrilista."

"Where are you from?" Taggart asked. He was quickly starting to process everything, to put it together. He had a fairy in his hand. A real, live fairy that apparently could fly, turn invisible, and create lights to distract pups trying to eat it. Her. Not it, her.

Cryptozoology would never been the same. Never.

Fairies were _real_.

"Earth to Taggart. Earth to Taggart. Come in Taggart." Cyrilista demanded as Jessie began to try and get high enough to get at her. "I'm from Sithein , Avalon, Fairyland, Elfhame, Tir-na-nOg, the Realm Perilous, Isle of Skye, Hy Breasail, Tirfo Thuinn, Tirn Aill -- it has hundreds of names your kind use. We call it home."

"How do you know my name?" He asked, lifting her high enough that Jessie couldn't reach. "Down girl; this is a person, not food."

"You know it, the land knows it, I know it," she shrugged.

"Ooookay ... are there more of you around here?"

"Only the forest knows," she turned cryptic as her wings began to dry out enough to be useable soon. "I am going to smell like dog spittle for days."

"Sorry about that; I didn't know you were around here and they're a little young to understand not to try and snag things ... listen, we've got resources around here, we could find a way for you and your people to get back home, if you need it...."

"We can get ourselves home," she countered with easy honesty. "Though giving our house back would be appreciated."

"Your house? Who... has your house?" He asked curiously.

"Henry," she said. "Squirrel nets are just not as cozy."

"Right... well, I'll take you to him, and we'll see about getting your house back? We'll have to wait until Jo's back though; can't leave the pups alone just now."

"Very well," she acquiesced and settled on his palm. "How long will she be gone?"

"Depends on how long the hunt takes her, but probably not more than a half-hour from now. Could be back any minute. You won't want to disappear when she comes back, she'd freak when she smelled you."

"The mother of these little ones?" Cyrilista didn't really guess. "Where is their father? What is their father?"

"Biological father, dead, and it doesn't matter. For all intents and purposes, you're talking to 'im," Taggart said easily, pulling out a couple small balls and a length of rope and tossing them to the pups to keep them entertained for a bit.

"Why don't you tell me this long story while we wait for her?" Cyrilista suggested.

"I tell you the whole thing, Jo'll skin me for it," Taggart chuckled ruefully. "Short form is that their mother's a shapeshifter who can turn into a wolf or a human. Their biological father was dangerous, psychotic, and forced himself on Jo. We made sure he didn't get away with it for long. "But Now, I'm raising them... honestly, Jo'd rather have as little to do with it as possible, but that might be changing now that she's got a chance to get to know them. They should grow up similar to her, but it's hard to know for sure yet."

"Their sire the same?" she asked cautiously.

"Except for being more psychotic, yes," Taggart muttered. "He deserved what he ended up getting."

"How ... how many are there?" she asked in a very small voice, even for her.

"You're familiar with werewolves, aren't you?" He asked with a sigh. "Not many, and these aren't the same as what you might know... Jo's got more control than she admits to."

"They're supposed to be extinct," Cyrilista whispered. "All the shifters are supposed to be extinct."

"These shifters weren't born that way," Taggart explained. "Created ... like I said, long story, and not one I'm allowed to tell in much detail. Hell, probably shouldn't have told you what I have, but it's not like you're in the security hierarchy around here."

"Taggart, I know secrets that would blow your mind," she pointed out dryly. "But I have to give it to you humans. You've undone nearly half a million years of hunting in, what, half a generation? Do you have _any_ idea how nasty these things are? _Dragons_ are still afraid of a werewolf pack!"

"We don't have dragons around here anymore either," he pointed out. "Or fairies, as far as we knew. Hell, don't think anybody even really believes in werewolves anymore either. Besides, they're not the same as the ones you had, I'm sure."

"You'd better hope not," Cyrilista grumbled. "And you do have dragons, they're just spending most of their time in the mystic realm with us, the unicorns, ogres, giants. Just how sane is their mother? Seriously here. Can you still sleep with her?"

"Aren't you getting a little personal with the questions?" He asked her pointedly. "Why are you so worried about it?"

"Oh, that's right, you humans have such a thing about your pleasure," she rolled her eyes. "Because I've met werewolves and I _really_ don't want to meet another anything like them," she said. "If she's sane enough not to kill a human when she gets off, she might even be sane enough not to get the Court after her hide. The pups ... we'll see about it."

"Now you listen to me," Taggart said darkly. "Jo is perfectly sane, or at least nothing that won't be better once she can shift back to her human form again. And that's irritation at not being in control, not homicidal rages, for your information. As for the pups, until they do something more than being born, you can let your court know that they'll kill them over quite a few dead bodies."

"I'll pass that on," she shrugged. "It's your hides they'll come after first. We don't live here anymore."

"And they can't reach where you _do_ live," he pointed out. "Your people are safe from them."

"Except for visits," Cyrilista said, then looked towards the entrance uneasily. "She's back."

"Time's about right... try not to mention anything about what we've just talked about?"

"I rather like being alive," she said dryly and fluttered her wings to lift off.

"Who are you talking to?" Jo's deep voice growled from just outside the entrance.

"A new arrival Jessie caught and brought in," Taggart explained, coming out with Cyrilista ahead of him. "Fey, intelligent, speaks English, and didn't know the pups were there. I made sure the pups didn't eat her; she's looking to leave and talk to Henry ASAP."

"Umm, hi," Cyrilista barely managed to squeak as she came face-to-face with a creature she had long relegated to extinction and living only in her nightmares.

"Great. Like the Kats aren't enough trouble," Jo grumbled. "What's next, a flesh-eating unicorn?"

"Not likely... and she'll be able to get home along with the ones who came with her eventually. There's some bad history with real werewolves in her world, so I'll probably just take her to go see about her house and let you take care of the pups."

"Fine," Jo nodded and moved passed them into her den to feed her pups.

"It wasn't that long ago that your world and our world were not separate," Cyrilista said quietly as he led the way to his truck.

"To be honest, I've got no idea what the history between them is," Taggart admitted honestly. "These days, most people don't even think creatures from your world ever existed."

"That's _why_ we don't exist here anymore," she said. "Belief is what makes magic work. When most stopped believing that magic was real, that we were real, our parts of the world separated from theirs. I still don't understand how it happened, and I was there for it."

"So how are you here now?"

"There are times of the year, and places on this Earth, when people still believe in magic enough to make passage possible without assistance," she explained and fluttered into the cab, landing to sit against the inside of the windshield near the middle where the wind would be unlikely to blow her away. "People with enough magical power can overcome the barrier of belief, and something related to it brought our house here with us in it. I'm not sure what it was though, as it wasn't any flavor of magic we have encountered before."

"Could be related to what brought the kats here," Taggart mused as he started the jeep. "Or it could just be somebody's project working in ways they didn't expect. We'll get you over to Henry and get the house back for now."

"Thank you, Taggart," she said and held on to the top of the dashboard. "Are those pups likely to be climbing by the summer solstice?"

"Not likely, but it's possible... they still won't be out unsupervised though," he reassured her.

"Then a spot about ten feet up a tree should be reasonably safe from them."

"From then, yes... still have to worry about bobcats, cougars, 'coons, bears, possum, cats, dogs, hawks, eagles ... then you've got the flying monkeys," Taggart said casually. "Flying cats on the way too, from what I hear. Not much of a safe place out in the woods around here, I'm afraid."

"All those are animals, and animals we are used to dealing with," Cyrilista told him. "It's their mother that scares us."

"Understandable ... stay away from the pups though, and Jo won't give you any trouble." He pulled up outside of Henry's garage. "Well, let's see what's up with your house."

"Hopefully it's still intact," Cyrilista flitted into the air and followed him inside the almost normal-looking garage, until you looked closer at the various piles of scrap and realized they were not from anything that existed yet.

"Don't see why it wouldn't be. Henry? You have some sort of house that got turned in lately?" Taggart called out, not sure where the eccentric inventor was just yet.

"Hay Taggart!" Henry popped his head up from behind a pile of machine parts that was becoming something. "What's up?"

"I've got somebody who says you've got their house... probably a very small house," Taggart admitted. "And you wouldn't believe who it was if I told you."

"He'd better believe me when I say it!" Cyrilista spoke up and fluttered forward. "I want my house back," she demanded and pointed to the small dollhouse sized building on his primary workbench.

"Oookay...." Henry blinked at the diminutive woman with butterfly wings hovering near Taggart's head. "Didn't know it was your house. Are there more of you around here somewhere?"

"Yes," she nodded. "We'd like our house back until we can go home."

"No problem - where you want it put? Could take a while to get you home if you don't have your own way."

"We do, it just takes a little time," she said. "Just give it to Taggart. I'll show him a good spot for us."

"Mind if I tag along?" Henry asked easily as he helped Taggart load the house into the back of the jeep. "And that won't be a problem; we just didn't know it was inhabited and didn't want to leave it out."

"We weren't there when you picked it up," she accepted the apology easily. "I don't mind if you come."

"Great," Henry said cheerfully. "Should we start taking it back to where we found it, or somewhere else?"

"That is a good place to start," Cyrilista nodded. "A suitable place will be nearby."

"Right, I'll tell you the way," Henry told Taggart easily. "How do you plan on getting home?"

"When the barrier between our worlds weaken, it can be relatively easy to cross over," she explained. "We just have to wait for the right time. We'll have the house in a good place for it by then."

"An innate ability, or do you use some kind of equipment?" Henry asked as the three of them got in the jeep. "How precise does the location have to be?"

"Just somewhere inside of a fey-ring," she said easily. "If it's large enough, it won't be a problem placing it at all. And it's a matter of a spell, but that's mostly to move the house out of the ring afterwards ... shouldn't have been one where we built it."

"Do you know what brought you here?" Henry asked. "How common are your kind?"

"There are only three of us here that I know of. And I have no idea... we shouldn't have been in a ring, and it was all the wrong time. I thought that somebody must have tried to summon us through, but nobody was there and the energy was all wrong."

"Would you or your friends be willing to talk with the other aliens that have arrived recently? Maybe you can help them get home," Henry asked. "What brought you here at the wrong time might be related to what brought them here."

"We'll talk with them, but Fey are not aliens to Earth," Cyrilista told him. "We are just no longer of this Earth. It wasn't long ago that the movement of our house would have been impossible, as our Earth and your Earth were the same Earth. It has only been a few hundred days ... years to you ... that our worlds began to separate in a noticeable way."

"How old are you, in our years?" Taggart asked curiously as he followed Henry's quiet directions to where the house had been found.

"In your years?" She thought back. "You rather lose count after the first fifty or sixty thousand of them. I've seen life rise from before the dinosaurs threatened dragons."

"Hay!" she objected to the screech of tires and suddenly being plastered against the windshield as the jeep came to an abrupt stop.

"You, personally, are older than the first dinosaurs?" Taggart half-demanded in open shock. "How is that possible?"

"Immortality helps," she pointed out, rubbing her head with a wince. "We've just been around for a really, really long time, came out of magic itself."

"So ... how many creatures of current myth are real and in your realm now?" Taggart asked quietly, trying to absorb what he was being told so matter-a-factly as he started driving again. "And sorry."

"Most of them, and probably a few you guys've forgotten about," she said easily. "Dragons, unicorns, phoenix, roc, thunderbirds, giants, ogres, merfolk, sea serpents, centaurs, gryphons ... some of them are doubled up, but they're mostly there."

"I think this might fall under the same heading as my translator," Henry murmured.

"What heading is that?" The pixie asked curiously. "And what translator?"

"I invented a universal translator last year, good enough to translate animals and alien languages," Henry said. "The heading is 'information we might not be ready to have become common knowledge even around Eureka.'"

"A useful device. A pity your people aren't ready for it yet."

"Agreed, but we are not ready to know that our food animals can carry on a conversation with us," Henry said quietly. "Even a rudimentary one."

"Understandable," Cyrilista shrugged slightly. "Particularly since your people have never really been much for admitting to being real predators. Dragons and ogres don't have those hangups. And frankly, from what I've seen lately ... well, it's not really that big a loss that they can't learn about us again just yet. I don't know that we'd really want to link our worlds up again right now."

"From what you have said, it will be a few generations yet before our understanding of science is ready to include magic in its view of reality," Henry admitted. "Longer still before we will be ready to admit that the myths and their creatures are real."

"Some of us have always been ready," Taggart said.

"But not humanity in general, or even Eureka," Henry said.

"It might be sooner than you think, between the Kats and Marie's work," Taggart countered. "Eureka handled them well enough."

"They are both products of technology, and their views fit in with our science for the most part," Henry reminded him.

"Maybe their conversations with you, but magic is quite real on Aristal and they are quite willing to talk about it if you ask."

"It's not that we have a problem with science," Cyrilista offered. "It's just that I, for one, really wouldn't want to explain to the dragons why so many of their old lairs have been bulldozered and had strip-malls built on them, or try to be a mermaid whose reef got taken out by coral poachers and toxic waste. Your Earth's screwed up enough at the moment that you guys can have it. Beyond that ... I think you might be underestimating what people can handle. Lots of people would probably handle it better than you think, Henry."

"We are trying to remedy the damage to the environment," Taggart told her. "The dragons ... I agree that's not a conversation I'd want to have."

"Once you move out of the western nations, you wouldn't have much trouble with the people, it's true. Governments, that's something else entirely," Henry nodded. "I was thinking more of where we are; here in North America it wouldn't go over well."

"Governments we always try to avoid," she chuckled slightly. "Though I'll admit, you've got an interesting one here. At any rate, I understand. We're not looking to turn things upside down... though whatever brought us here might be, I suppose."

"You said that the energy that brought you here wasn't the right kind to be a summoning spell," Taggart shifted the conversation as they pulled to a spot as close as his jeep could get to where the house had been found. "Can you tell us anything more about what kind of energy it was? Like if it was something our technology created, or if it was more likely to have come from something further away, like the Kats."

"I can't be sure; I don't know what sort of things they create," she pointed out. "I know it wasn't magic, but that's about it ... I'm not really _that_ good at telling specifics beyond that. Might've been your technology, but not one that I've seen before."

"That does narrow it down a bit," Henry said as they got out. "Where would you like this?" he asked with a motion to the twenty-inch tall house.

"Mmm ... this way," she said, starting to fly off into the woods, leaving a trail of sparkles behind her for Henry and Taggart to follow. They only had a couple dozen yards to go before she stopped and flitted up into a lushly needled evergreen with wide, thick branches covered in moss. "Up here. On this branch against the trunk," she instructed, pointed to a spot about fifteen feet up.

"If we can get it to the lowest branches, I can get it up the rest of the way," Taggart decided, looking at the tree. "Give me a boost, I'll pull it up from the trees," he said easily, waiting for Henry to get into position before climbing up, using his long, lanky arms to grab hold of the branches and pull himself up into it, checking his grips carefully. "Why this particular tree?" He asked their guest curiously.

"It is close to a fairy ring, has a perfect spot for the house to sit that's high enough up and has a nice few out the front," she smiled at him.

"It is close to a fairy ring, has a perfect spot for the house to sit that's high enough up and has a nice view out the front," she smiled at him.

"Where's this fairy ring?" Henry called up as Taggart grunted and settled the house in the proper place.

"My guess would be the ring of toadstools down there," Taggart called back down. "Make sure you wipe your feet well if you came too close to those, by the way... forget, you're liable to end up spending the next week thinking you're Eleanor Roosevelt."

"Which could be amusing," Cyrilista goggled. "A little to the left, please.

"Cyrilista, the early humanoids, Bigfoot, Yeti, Sasquatch, Almas, Barmanou, Dzonokwa, Ebu Gogo, Fear liath, the Fouke Monster, Hibagon, Kapre, Momo, Nguoi Rung, Orang Pendak, Orang Mawas, the Skunk Ape, Windigo, the Lake Minnewanka Wildman, Woodwose, Yeren, Yowie, Bunyip, are they of your realm?" Taggart asked as he began to situate her home.

"You are weird, you know that?" she asked him. "Some are, some are not. Some are naturally extinct, some were hunted to extinction, a few are magical and live in my world and some are still on your world and some are different names for the same creature."

"Which ones are still here?" Taggart asked, very nearly falling out of the tree as his enthusiasm was directed towards a new point.

"Umm, I don't really keep track of them," she admitted, a little distressed to see how crestfallen he was at the answer. "Your lineage never did interest me much. There are two, I think, here in North America that live in my realm. I know there are several others around the world. Some can come into this realm like we do, so some might be around in more isolated or magical areas."

"Oh well," Taggart sighed. "At least it's something to look for. So, how are you going to tell your friends where you are?"

"They'll find me," she assured him.

"Well... if they might know anything about them, it'd be great if they could talk to me before you guys go?" He asked hopefully, starting to climb down the tree.

"I don't see why not, though it will likely be at your home, not the den," she told him. 

"No problem," he said easily. "I can understand, especially with what you've told me. If you have any trouble with animals around here, I'm the local animal control too, so just let me know."

"I will," she giggled. "Is there anything unique to Eureka we should watch out for, besides your lover?"

"Two dogs as smart as people who enjoy tormenting people," he muttered, brushing moss off his pants. "Lojack and Ress ... you'll probably know them. They don't usually hunt anything that looks even close to human, but they're smart and might knock the house down just to be annoying."

"That we can handle," Cyrilista giggled. "Have fun trying to catch them."

"Oh he does," Henry laughed. "By the way ... you know anything about green pigs or giant asparagus?"

"They aren't from my world," she said. "I don't know where they would be from."

"Well... figured it wouldn't hurt to ask," the older man shrugged slightly. "See you around... we might be out to talk to you some time before you go."

"No problem. You won't find us if we don't feel like talking right then," she told him, then flitted to her front door and opened it, ready to begin the work of undoing the damage the moving had done.


	22. Faces of Old

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Belinda tries to cope with the idea that she's not in Eureka anymore, Jake introduces Chance to a form of harem dance from home, and Cindy learns the hard way to listen to what Chance thinks of people.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written with Karl Wolfemann

Belinda Crezic woke up to the unusual sensation that her bed wasn't quite level, and that it was distinctly cooler outside than it was supposed to be. As she wrapped the sheets around herself more tightly, she realized that there were more things that shouldn't have been the way they were.

She didn't usually leave the nature CD she used to get to sleep running all night, for example, or have a fan running in the morning. While she wanted to stay in bed and quietly hope that whatever was unusual would go away, she knew she couldn't, and reluctantly opened her eyes.

Finding herself in the middle of a forest was _not_ what she had expected. She wasn't sure what she had, but that wasn't it. She lay in her bed, frozen stiff, trying to figure out what was going on, where she was, and how the Hell she'd gotten outside. Finally, something happened that would have gotten her moving no matter where she was.

A wolf howled in the distance.

The sound had Belinda out of her bed and bolting for a tree with a shriek of stark terror, scrambling for somewhere that was safe from the nightmare that sound brought back to her mind.

She didn't know how she'd managed to get up it, and she didn't really care. All she had awareness of was the howling and how tightly she could hold onto the thick limb that was well up the ancient oak.

In the back of her mind, she knew she wasn't in Eureka.

Why, she couldn't have said, but it just wasn't the right shades of green, and far too much other color. It wasn't how Eureka's forests looked.

Besides, there was only one wolf left in Eureka, and it sounded entirely different than this one did. Such a fine distinction would have been lost on her a year ago, but now it was critical to what was left of her sanity.

"Please don't come this way," she whispered. "Please don't come this way ... just go away, go away and leave us alone...."

"Who do you want to avoid so badly?" A musical male voice asked from below, nearly causing her to jump out of her perch before she looked down at a young man with soft blue hair, bright blue eyes and princely clothing. He was looking up at her curiously, as was his milky-white horse that was wearing as much finery as he was.

Belinda stared down at him, as much surprise as curiosity on her face. Then it all made perfect sense. Well, as much sense as anything did in the last year, at any rate.

"Okay... I've finally snapped," she murmured. "That's got to be it."

"Would you be human, by any chance?" he asked.

"Uhm... yes? Where is this?"

And what the heck was her mental breakdown doing taking her into Tolkien-central? Not that she was complaining. Given the choice between here and the werewolf-filled Hell she'd expected to have if Beverly didn't get her straightened out, she'd take this any day of the week.

"Then welcome to Fairy Lands," he smiled warmly and extended a hand to her in an impractical gesture. "Why don't you come down? No one will hurt you here."

"There's a wolf out there," she said, glancing in the direction she'd heard the sound from. "Uhm... no offense, sir, but... I have a _real_ problem with wolves," she admitted.

The Fairy Lands? Anywhere but Eureka, she'd have taken that as proof that she was flipping out. Here... it almost made more sense that she was actually there than the idea that she was just going crazy.

"I will protect you," he said with an easy, self-assured confidence. "No wolf is a match for a prince here."

"Okay...." She swallowed hard, getting ready to come down... then froze in place as she realized something. "How do I know you aren't the wolf?"

"I'm an Elf," he told her. "Wolves aren't people."

"The one I'm thinking of was."

Jaeger was dead. She hadn't seen the body, but Taggart had watched him get _eaten_. And besides, this guy didn't look anything like Jaeger.

She forced herself to get down, mentally chanting the mantra that Beverly had told her to use whenever she was panicking about the possibility of meeting another werewolf.

"It's a long story," she said apologetically, smoothing out her nightgown. "I'm... uhm... Belinda Crezic... and I have no clue how I got here."

"Not uncommon," he chuckled and swung down to help her onto his mount. "There are worse places to wake up, however."

"I'm sure," she murmured, centering herself on the horse as best she could. "I don't really ride," she warned him as he swung up behind her and collected the reins, his arms around her lightly.

"Just relax against me," he said softly in her ear. "I won't let you fall, even if Alequin wasn't an elven horse."

"What ...." her question drifted off as she realized that they were moving at a good clip and there wasn't even a trace of motion to it beyond a breeze in her hair.

"There are many advantages to being an Elf, or being in the care of one," he smiled. "I am Prince Lyri."

"Belinda... think I already told you that though," she admitted with a bit of a blush. "Do you have any idea how I got here?"

"The usual method is by falling asleep in the proper place and time, though there are many ways in and our of the Realm."

"And how do I get back? I can't just stay here... I have family to take care of."

"There is a very good chance that your family will be grown and gone already," he said gently. "Every hour you spend here is over four years in your world."

Her body tensed in his arms as she quickly ran the numbers.

"That... no." She said, shaking her head. "No... that can't...." She started trembling, her distress at the idea clear. "I'm not losing anybody else ... not like that, it just ... it _can't_ work out like that!"

"It does," he told her, his arms ready to tighten to keep her from bolting. "When you get home, it will be a very different place. Most great-grandchildren are willing to take a lost ancestor in."

"I wouldn't have any," she murmured, swallowing hard. "Eddie and CJ... _shit_ ," she swore, her breaths coming faster as she realized that, if this _was_ real, she was probably royally screwed. "I-I only just woke up here, I can't have been here long... h-how can I get back? If I get back right away, I should be able to explain things yet... put things back together...."

"There is no easy way to your world anymore, Belinda," he tried to calm her by getting her to focus on what she had and not what she'd lost. "Yes, we can open a door to your world, but it has to be very precisely timed and it takes time to garner the power to do so."

"God I hope I'm dreaming," she whispered, swallowing hard. "It's not just losing them myself, I'm all they have left!"

"They are at least four years without you already," he pointed out. "Even if we can catch the next portal to your world, it will have been about twenty-five years for them."

"I still have to try... have to try some time. What would you do?" She asked him pointedly. "Even if I have been gone for years, what would you do? Their parents were killed in front of them, they watched mine tortured to death, and now I've just disappeared on them completely?"

"I was not suggesting that you should not go home. Just that you should be prepared for what you are going home to."

"Not much else I _can_ be," she murmured, closing her eyes. "Sorry, I just... it's been a rough year," she laughed. "I'm not really at my best."

"That is not uncommon either, when a visitor realizes their situation," he kissed her neck lightly as the forest thinned and a glimmering white and golden city became visible.

"I can imagine," she murmured, tensing slightly at the contact. "Uhm... how long do you think it will be before I can try to get back?"

"That depends on how close to home you need to return to," he said as the beautiful fantasy city came a mile closer with every breath. "Very close, it could take several days for conditions to be right. Anywhere on Earth could be as soon as an hour or two."

"Honestly, anywhere that would get me in the general neighborhood would work... if I can get to Portland I can get back home. Your city's very beautiful," she observed, trying to remember to be polite.

"Yes," he smiled as they passed through the open fields of flowers that surrounded the city. "There is a portal in the palace that we typically use when we wish to visit your world. We will try to get you home there."

"Thank you," she said sincerely. "I'm sorry to impose... if I can't get back right away, I'm going to need to find something I can do to earn my keep while I'm here. I don't suppose there are any openings for a human lab technician?"

"I am not sure what a lab technician is," he said. "But you have other assets here. You are quite the exotic with such dark hair, rosy skin and small, round ears. There are many who would take you in."

"I've never really thought of myself as exotic before," she admitted. "What sort of being taken in are you thinking about?"

"You will have a place to stay, food to eat, clothes to wear and whatever else you need," he began with the perks. "In exchange, it depends on the agreement you make. Most will be interested in pleasure and the occasional public appearance."

At least he was up-front about it all. But she remembered a few things about the Fairy Lands that she'd been told in stories as a kid.

"And how much of that will end up binding me here for longer than I'm going to want to be here?"

"That is not a game Elves play," he told her seriously as they entered the clean, slightly unnaturally attractive main street that led to the palace main gate. "That is more a Fairy and Demon thing. The tricksters of our world. I give you my word that no Elf will try such a trick."

"Thank you," she nodded slightly, looking around the city. "I really don't know much about this place ... probably less than most humans you hear from."

"Don't worry about it," Lyri said soothingly. "You either will not be here long enough to need to worry about it, or you will have plenty of time to learn."

"No offense, but I'm going to hope for not having to be here long enough. Are there any questions you have for me? Besides ones about how I got here, you seem to know more about that than I do...."

"Are you inclined to accept being my courtesan while you are here?" He asked as the grand gates opened for them with a soft trumpeting that came from thin air.

"The basic agreement you talked about a few minutes ago?" She asked him, thinking about it. He was attractive... seemed to think that she was too, despite the fact that she was _not_ at her best. And he seemed nice enough.

Of course, so had Jaeger.

Unlike Jaeger, Lyri didn't give off the dominant, kinky vibe that she'd fallen for in Jaeger. The Elf was sure of himself, confident and relaxed in his command of his surroundings, but he wasn't kinky that way. But as a prince, he had every reason to be relaxed and confident.

"If I change my mind, after a while?" she asked, trying not to follow her reflex to simply agree and be taken in, taken care of, and not worry about the price.

"I turn you loose," he shrugged. "I hardly need to use force or trickery to find exotic lovers."

"I'm sure," she nodded. "I've had... a _very_ bad experience," she admitted as Alequin slowed to a stop and accepted a young Elf taking his reins before Lyri swung to the ground. "It makes me a little gun-shy... if you're interested, then I accept your offer, for now. Thank you."

"I am interested," he reached up and helped her to the ground. "We will find you something more attractive to wear, then see to breakfast?"

"That would be nice," she smiled slightly. "If I can ask, what were you doing when you found me? I hope I didn't interrupt your day too badly."

"Just our for a ride," he told her easily as they entered a fairytale palace beyond anything Hollywood had invented yet. 

The more she saw, the more sure she was that this was real... which wasn't helping how she felt about it any.

She tried not to stare too badly at anything as they walked along, but the centaurs and fairies that were wandering around in their finery were too unusual to her eye for her to avoid it.

Eventually, they made their way to a room filled to the ceiling with racks of fantastically colored silks and other fabrics, being tended to by a number of short, scrawny, somewhat ugly looking creatures that _looked_ mostly human.

Mostly.

"Ah, Prince Lyri," one of them came up and bowed deeply. "What can we provide today?"

"Suitable clothing for the day, meals and night for my new companion," he nodded to Belinda.

"Right," the two-foot tall critter nodded, looking her up and down. "In good shape, for a human," he said approvingly. "A little meat on your bones... good teeth... an excellent find, my Prince," he grinned. "So, what to do for you...." He darted off back into the workshop, over to a sketching station, pulling out a piece of charcoal and getting to work. "Something exotic, Prince Lyri, or more typical? And do you want anything special for the fabric, or will normal silk suffice?"

"Exotic to suit her exotic looks," he smiled in amusement at the small creature. "Perhaps something lighter and finer for nightwear. A soft green cloud-silk would be very pleasant."

"That would work very nicely," the designer mused. "Perhaps something inspired by the djinn? Or maybe...." He flipped through a few pages, bringing up a sketch of an Oriental design. "Perhaps something like this, from the kitsune courts? I haven't had much use for it yet."

"I like that," Lyri nodded. "Do you?" he looked at Belinda.

"I think so," she nodded, considering the sketch. She didn't have _that_ good an eye for fashion, particularly not with something she wasn't looking at the finished version of, but she had a few mental images of what they were probably going to look like already.

It was all much, _much_ finer than anything she'd worn, even in the few plays she'd been in.

"Then let's find something for you to wear now instead of your nightclothes and see about your hunger," Lyri suggested and guided her to a rack of clothing that was more like what the local Elves wore, at least from what she'd seen on the way in. "I think you'd look lovely in spun amethyst."

"Spun amethyst?" She asked, looking at the dress he was suggesting, not sure if it really was amethyst or just the same brilliant, sparkling purple.

"Magic can do amazing things," he smiled. "Why don't you try it on?"

The outer layers were coarser, made from the crystalline rock that they'd said it was, but beneath that the fabric was more normal, silks and velvets and cotton.

"There's a changing screen somewhere?" She asked hopefully, looking around.

"Slip behind the rack if you are modest," he motioned to the space behind where her dress had come from.

"Thanks," she said, moving back with the dress and removing her nightgown, working into the dress. She'd have to see about new undergarments in the near future too... at least she hadn't been sleeping naked beneath her nightgown, just without a bra.

As she pulled on the dress, she couldn't help but think that there were technicians who'd have killed to get their hands on the spun stone fabric. After a moment of settling herself into the dress, she realized that it had been designed to be worn without a bra. There was support in all the right places.

Well, small favors at any rate ... she wasn't entirely sure if they _had_ bras around here.

"It seems to fit fine, thank you," she said, stepping out to let Lyri and the brownie see.

"Very nicely," the prince smiled and stepped up to give her a kiss on the cheek. "A few more outfits will be sent to our suite. Now, shall we see to breakfast?"

"Please," she smiled. "Thank you," she added, looking down to the brownie.

"My pleasure, ma'am," he smiled up at her. "Call me Tailor; easier than the full name," he said easily.

"All right... Tailor," she said, not quite sure about calling him by his apparent job, but _he_ was the one who'd suggested it.

"This way, Belinda," Lyri guided her through many rooms and halls. "Is there anything you are particularly hungry for?"

"Not really; I usually have a pretty light breakfast," she admitted. "Cereal, something like that ... and I'm guessing that if I'm lucky you just don't know what I'm talking about," she said at his expression.

"How about fruit and some light sweet breads?" he suggested.

"That would be nice," she smiled slightly. "I guess when time passes as quickly as it does in my world, compared to here, it takes a while for some things to cross over."

"Yes," he nodded as they entered a wonderfully bright room with a crystal table that almost floated on fine, curved legs and likely could seat two dozen. "Especially when your entire modern history has passed in less than a week to us."

He continued past the grand table and onto a balcony that had a similar table meant for two. On it was a tray overflowing with fruits exotic and mundane, and a pile of light, flaky pastries, some with a glaze, some with fruit and some with glistening sugar on top.

"And only likely to move faster as things keep going," she murmured, looking over the spread and looking to Lyri for some sort of subtle cue of what would be the polite thing to do.

After all, he _was_ a prince here. It was hard enough getting things right when you were dealing with your boss, let alone somebody with a rank like the elf's.

"Please, sit and eat," he said and sat down to select a red skinned fruit with juicy purple flesh. "I promise you, there are no traps here."

"I'm not worried about traps... not with breakfast, at any rate," she admitted. "I just don't want to offend anybody, least of all you." She sat down, taking something that looked a bit like a ripe plum.

Lyri smiled at her. "I will try to give you prompts until you acquire a feel for how things are here. You will not be expected to attend a family dinner for some time."

"I'd have to say that's a _very_ good thing," she admitted with a bit of a chuckle, biting into the fruit, enjoying the rich, citrus flavor of it, careful not to let the juice get onto her dress as a bit trickled down her chin. "I grew up in a house that was part scientist, part low-ranking military ... I kind of doubt that either set of rules really fits in here."

"Respect for rank, intelligent conversation and a quiet wit are all traits that will serve you very well when socializing," he said. "You may be better prepared than you think."

"I hope so," she smiled. "Do you mind if I ask about you a bit?"

"Not at all," he said easily. "What are you curious about?"

"Well... just about anything," she admitted. "You, in particular. I don't know that much about you, except that you're a prince of this city. Especially since I'm going to be your ... courtesan, you said? What sort of things do you like, what's your family like?"

"I like exotic things, beautiful things, and the pleasures of living," he leaned back to take her in with an openly appreciative gaze. "A willing bedmate, their pleasure with mine, but I also enjoy riding in the country, hunting, walking in the gardens. I live in a grand land, and I enjoy every day. I am high enough up the family rank to enjoy few demands of making a living, and have enough older siblings to have few political or social demands on me. It is quite a nice place to be."

"Far enough up to have privilege, not so high up they're watching you constantly?" She smiled. "It sounds nice. You have things you can _do_ when you want to, too, from the sound of it." She took one of the lightly glazed pastries, something that looked like a finely folded baklava, and tried it. "I hope you don't mind a bedmate who isn't particularly experienced?"

"Not at all," he chuckled and nibbled on a delicately candied flower. "There was a time not so long ago that the standard offering was a virgin. I prefer a little more experience, at least for human women, just to avoid the pain of that first time. It's not very fun to have her crying while you try to explain that it will feel wonderful the next time."

"You won't have to worry about that with me," she murmured. "You couldn't be any harder on me than my first time if you tried. Any tears will be memories, not things you've done, and I'll try to keep it under control."

Lyri reached over and slid his fingers under her chin to tip her face up a bit. "I will try to make you forget those memories," he said softly.

I hope to God you can," she murmured. "At least something good would come out of this. Uhm... you don't have werewolves around here, do you?

Enough other creatures from our myths... figure I should ask."

"They were exterminated long ago," he said with a shudder. "One of only three creatures condemned to extinction by the Folk."

"Good," she shuddered on her own. "That's one monster I can live with being extinct."

"I very much agree," he nodded and picked up a sugar-sprinkled pastry. "So have you had any good parts in your life?"

"Up until last year, most of it," she smiled slightly. "Eureka's a good place to have a good life in, as long as you don't get caught in an experiment going horribly wrong.

"Are they common?" he cocked his head a bit, actually a bit curious about her.

"The experiments? Not _that_ wrong," she said easily. "Things get screwy every few weeks, but usually not to the point where somebody gets killed. I ah... I'm not honestly sure how much I _can_ say about Eureka, honestly. A lot of it's supposed to be pretty secret. It's a lot like most small towns, really, except for the fact that it's pretty well run by scientists."

"Well, if you are finished with breakfast, we can try to get you home," Lyri gave her a light kiss.

"Thank you... if it doesn't work, I suspect I'm yours for the rest of the day," she admitted with a weak chuckle, trying to focus on the fact that things seemed pleasant here rather than the fact that it would mean another 100 years in her world before she'd even have a real chance to get back home.

He nodded and stood, taking her hand and led her into the depths of the palace, a place that was as light and airy as any of the open-air rooms.

She followed him, looking around, occasionally doing a double-take at something that was harder to make sense of than what she'd already seen.

Not, mind, that much of what she'd already seen made _that_ much sense, but more than some of the sparkling decorations that didn't actually seem to be there.

"Some sort of hologram?" She mused as they passed one particular display of an animated battle with a dragon.

Lyri paused, his eyes unfocused briefly, then he nodded. "In a very distant manner, yes. A magical illusion."

"How does it work, if you can tell me?" She asked him as they went along. Having something to wrap her brain around for a while would certainly help.

"That depends. Do you need a primer on magic theory first?"

"I... probably would," she admitted. "We use science back home, though sometimes it's hard to tell apart from magic."

"Magic is the manipulation of energy by force of will," he gave her the most basic definition. "The illusion is one of the easier forces, as you are not asking reality to change to any real extent. All it is is the bending of light into a pattern, something it is naturally willing to do."

"So it's a bit more direct than just projecting it," she nodded slightly. Didn't sound too strange; rather like using a particularly intricate prism to create a design. Just ... a design that could shift and move on demand; a movie in three dimensions.

"Yes, but less complicated than the scientific method of doing the same," he nodded.

"Less complicated to you, but to us it would probably seem the other way around," she admitted. "The idea of just making something happen by wanting it to is pretty extreme for us."

"It does for almost all who do not have talent for it," he acknowledged. "There was a time when scientists and mages were two sides of the same coin."

"Alchemy, at least," she nodded slightly. "Or was that later?"

"Alchemy came towards the end, just before the worlds split. Early scientists were the people who created the wheel, the cart, thought to tame animals to help with their work and created an actual system to survive lean times by saving from the good times. Even among the magical races, scientists have long been respected for their contributions to society."

"So what is science to you?" She asked him as they approached what looked like the room they were headed for. "And how did you know what a hologram was? If I'm right, they've only been around for a few hours in your time."

"Translation spell. The English I know is different enough from your dialect for it to be a good idea. Science is the physical side of magic," he explained. "It is preserving and manipulating the world by physical means, while magic uses mental means, the force of will."

"Makes sense ... so psychics are the same as mages for you?"

"By how they do what they do, but their training is quite different. Some consider it a different kind of skill, but most do not," he said as he nodded at two armored elven guards, who then opened the elaborately gilded double doors for them.

The room inside was remarkably sparse at the moment; there was a slight buzz as they stepped inside, and a faint sense that the outside was closer than it should have been.

"There's something... off about this room," she murmured.

"Likely a combination of the thinness of the border and the wards we have in place to keep unexpected visitors inside until we can identify them," Lyri told her easily. "I can not guarantee where you will come out, other than it will be on your Earth. Just step into the central design," he motioned to the floor and the lovely, intricate design of silver, gold and precious stones. "This is one of the better gates."

"Beats a bed in the forest," she murmured, stepping into the design and taking a deep breath. "How do we make this work?"

"Every few minutes, this world will phase out and yours will phase in. When that happens, simply step a few paces out of the circle and you will not be brought back when the shift ends."

"All right," she nodded, turning away from him. "Than-" Mid-word, she realized that she was in the middle of a large, deciduous forest. She blinked, looking around.

"When you said 'phase,' I figured it'd take more than an instant," Belinda murmured to herself. Still, she didn't take very long to puzzle about it - she didn't know if she had seconds, or hours, to get out. She stepped forward, trying to leave the area of the circle.

Just feet away from where she'd been standing, she felt like she was picked up and bodily thrown back, an arc of bright blue light flashing in front of her. She picked herself up, and tried heading another direction, with the same results.

After the third try, she stayed down on the moist grass and sobbed, her face in her hands as she struggled to fight down the panic and terror of being trapped so close to getting home. She could hear people in the distance, hear the sounds of the lush evergreen forest, but she couldn't join them.

"Belinda, take my hand," Lyri's gentle voice broke into her shaking. "I do not understand what is happening, but I can get you back to the palace. There we can find out why your world is rejecting you."

She felt his hand on her shoulder, and reached up to take it, happy to just have _some_ contact, and to know she wasn't going to be trapped here forever. He pulled her through the place where the barrier had been... and she was back in the palace, still shaking, trying to figure out just what had happened.

"I have not seen that before," Lyri admitted. "I will ask Mother for an audience for you. She is the strongest, most skilled mage in the realm. If anyone can tell, it will be her, or the scholars she commands."

"How long is that likely to take?" She asked him quietly and gratefully sat down in a cushy day bed she hadn't thought was there before. A few days, and she'd probably be better off just staying. By then she'd be so far outside her time that it would be even more alien than this place.

"After breakfast, I expect. I know it is very important to you, but when it comes to the business of the realm, your situation does not rate disrupting the day's schedule."

"I understand," she nodded. "I'm not even from around here, after all." She did understand too; it wasn't like she was even particularly important back _home_ either. "Might there be some way I could still try and send a message today? Put it in something sturdy so somebody might find it and send it to the right place? I know it's a long shot, but it's better than nothing."

"Certainly," he nodded and went to the wall, opened a sliding panel in it and took out a small package before he returned to the rich purple couch and sat down next to her. "Normally, I would suggest you write it, but whatever is keeping you here might reject even your writing," he said as he unwrapped the package to reveal a paper scroll and writing instrument that looked like a quill but did not seem to need an inkpot. "What would you like it to say?"

"CJ, Eddie, this is from Belinda. I didn't disappear because I wanted to; something Eureka happened and dropped me into another world." She wanted to try and add something more to it, to make what could end up being the last thing she ever communicated to them - to anybody on her world - something a bit deeper and more meaningful. But, frankly, she couldn't really come up with much.

"I love you guys very much," she said softly. "I wish there was some way I could go back and make it so all this never happened. I swear, you guys didn't do _anything_ that made me leave. If you can... try and let your kids know who I was. I hope you've had good lives... and that they only get better.

"Anything else you can think of that might be good to add?" She asked Lyri softly.

"If they are likely to know what Fairyland is, mentioning that you are here?" he suggested.

"They'd be more likely than ever to think I'd flipped out completely," Belinda chuckled weakly. "Unless what's going on has been noticed and identified, and if that was the case I think you'd know about it."

"Certainly soon," he nodded. "That would be very big news indeed, for the human world to acknowledge ours. Anything that would help prove this is from you to them? They will clearly know you did not write it."

"If I could leave my fingerprints on it, that would be one way that couldn't be denied... best way I can think of. Worst that happens is it's a few more years before we can try sending another," she half-laughed.

"All right," he nodded and offered the paper to her. After carefully placing her fingers in unused space, she handed it back. "Circle the places I touched, and write fingerprints."

Lyri nodded and did so, then carefully rolled the paper and slid it into a cylinder that was sealed with a bit of bright red wax and a gold stamp imprinted on it. "It will only open for those who know you or are related by blood."

He then tossed it into the circle and stood, extending a hand to her. "Come, I'll show you to where you will be staying until you can go home."

"Thank you," she nodded, taking his hand and standing to follow him. "With some luck, that will make things easier for them."

"And you will have relatives to take you in and help you adjust when you get back," he added and showed her the way back to the upper floors of the palace.

"Hopefully," she nodded, following him. "Not going to be back for a hundred years or so. If... if I can't get back, for a few days, will I still be expected to return when the chance presents itself? At the rate things are changing, two or three days from now there won't be _anything_ left that I'll recognize."

"I have no expectations of it," he kissed her cheek. "As long as you are an acceptable member of society, no one will care that you are human."

"Getting along with society at large I can _usually_ do," she smiled, turning to give him a light peck of her own before he opened the door to a room that very much fit her mental image of a fairytale castle sitting room. "I'm glad you're the one who found me."

"I do hope you still have that opinion in a few days," he turned to her and claimed a full kiss to her mouth, though he kept it chaste as he slid his hands down her sides. "This is the sitting room of my quarters."

"I'll be staying with you then?" She asked, returning the kiss hesitantly and wrapping her arms around him lightly. "That won't cause any trouble, will it?"

"No," he smiled with a light amusement. "You are to share my bed, after all," he slid to her side and guided her through the door on the far side of the room to a bedroom in rich reds, greens and purples with gold filigree.

"True," she blushed. "I suppose that does kind of make it a silly question," she admitted, reaching across herself to place one hand on his. "Incredible," she murmured, looking around the lush decorations before her attention focused on the bed he was guiding her to. It was only then that it sunk in that it wasn't just one cultural focal point to this room, there were several. She placed it as European first, but that was also her background. Now she saw heavy Asian, Indian and even Egyptian influences as well. The bed in particular came right from an exhibit she had seen on the Chinese royal court in its heyday.

"Thank you," he smiled and slipped a hand behind her to unfasten the back of her elaborate dress.

She reached back to help him, though she wasn't entirely sure how much she _could_ , complicated as it was. Given his ease working it open, she was sure it was not his first encounter with such a dress.

"What's the bed filled with?" She asked him curiously, fairly sure it wouldn't be the sort of design she was used to and eager to take her mind off what was about to happen, even if only a bit.

"Air, feathers and fragrant herbs," he said and kissed her neck, his hands warm and gentle along her back and up to her shoulders.

She trembled lightly, trying to force the memories that he was bringing to her away. Finally, she turned around, wrapping her arms around the elven prince and leaning close to inhale his scent deeply, trying to force her brain to recognize the differences between him and Jaeger. Lyri had been nothing but kind to her since she'd arrived....

It was just so _very_ hard not to finish that statement with the teasing reminder in the back of her mind that Jaeger could have said the same that first night.

"Let me take that fear away, Belinda," he whispered as her dress slid from her body to pool at her feet with the sweet chiming of crystals. "You are very beautiful."

"Please do," she whispered back as his hands caressed her naked skin. "I'm sick of being scared of him."

Lyri nodded and shifted back just a fraction to undress himself with an easy shamelessness for her. While he was lightly built and fit, he wasn't in the military level of fitness Jaeger, or even her father, maintained. As her eyes drifted down his slender frame, it sank in that he didn't have any body hair at all, not even stubble at his groin.

She reached down, working her panties off, the last thing that she was wearing, and revealed the short brown curls of her own sex. As she stepped out of the pool of cloth she'd left on the floor, she reached out, running her hands up his lean body.

"You look incredible," she murmured, nuzzling his chest lightly.

"I'm pleased you like me," he kissed her neck, then moved up to nibble at a rounded ear. After a moment he slipped a hand between them to play with her pubic hair with an open fascination for the differences between their races. "The bed?" he suggested and slid one slender finger further back to play along her slit.

She moaned with a slight nod, stepping back and laying down on the bed, grateful that the mattress didn't seem to leave feathers poking her as she reached up to offer her hand to the elf.

"I'm guessing you've been with humans before?" She asked him.

"Yes," he nodded and knelt on the bed, then lay on his side next to her for several lingering kisses and a slow, tender exploration of her sex with his fingers. He made her moan and left her trembling and almost dripping before his fingers left her. Without a word he shifted above her and pressed his cock into her body with a smooth, comfortable motion.

Belinda moaned softly, running her hands up his back, hugging him tightly as she forced herself to think about him, about how well he was treating her... and about how incredibly _good_ it felt to have him inside of her. He wasn't hurrying to stick himself into her body; he was taking his time, enjoying her, learning her body and making sure that she enjoyed it too.

She tried to return the favor the best she could, tightening her body around him as her fingernails raked lightly down his back. She distracted herself from memories with turning her mind to analyzing how two species as different as humans and elves could be so physically similar, then on to wonder just how different they really were, in evolutionary term; whether this was convergent or divergent evolution at work. Were they like fish and dolphins or more like the dozen breeds of big cats in their genetic similarities?

Her mind and body began to relax after a while and she moaned as the smooth, even pistoning of his hips began to draw her closer to an orgasm she hadn't been thinking about.

"Oh God," she whimpered softly, pressing close to him as the pleasure built inside of her. She cried out, her grip on his back tightening as her body spasmed and milked him, her orgasm starting to ripple up through her sex and the rest of her body. She felt his teeth press against his skin as his lips pulled back, his balls tight against his body as they emptied themselves into her welcoming body and caused her to cry out again.

Still the rocking of their bodies together went on, encouraging each other to draw out the pleasure until they were both panting and sweaty.

"So very sweet," Lyri licked a salty drop from the tip of her nose, openly playfully with her. "Up for a little more?"

"Mmm ... if you are," she murmured, kissing him lightly. "I should probably ask though... there's no real chance I'm going to get pregnant from this, is there?"

"Not unless someone with more power than my mother intends you too," he chuckled and traced a finger down her face as he pulled out of her. Slowly he kissed his way down her body as she caught her breath. "I do take some precautions."

"Oooh... good," she moaned softly, reaching up to feel his silk-soft hair. "Figured you did, or that it wouldn't matter, just wanted to check." She tilted her face slightly, taking his finger in her mouth and suckling it lightly until he had to draw them down as he reached her crotch. A shudder passed through her body as he spread her labia open with his fingers and traced around her hard, twitching clit with his tongue ever so slowly. In the same breath that cried out in pleasure she cursed him for being so intentionally deliberate about the attention.

"I can take you, push you hard until you can't cry out for more," Lyri offered with a sultry voice. "Or I can pleasure you slowly and draw this out until it is time to bath for dinner."

"Slow," she decided quickly, looking down at him and licking her lips. "Not ready to be pushed that hard yet," she admitted.

"Good," he smiled and teased her clit with his tongue briefly. "I much prefer the slow buildup and lingering pleasure."

"Mmm ... why don't you show me why?" She murmured, rubbing his neck lightly before he settled in to show her just how long he could draw out their pleasure.

* * *

"So what is this surprise you got Marie to take off for the night?" Chance asked in a mixture of curiosity, arousal and anticipation as he sat on the couch in the living room. The blinds had been drawn to give them privacy, and Jake had sat him down with no explanation other than he had to change for the evening.

"You'll see soon enough," Jake laughed from the master bedroom along with the sound of cloth moving and a musical tinkle of metal against mental.

"That's your opinion," Chance grumbled, but settled down to wait. It wasn't long before his ears perked up at a soft, exotically familiar sound. Music from long ago and far away, even when back in MegaKat City, gradually gained strength until it was a very pleasant, arousing background sound that brought to mind harems of lovely females in skimpy clothing and willing bodies.

He moaned through a low gasp when he saw a cinnamon furred foot slip into view with golden paint on the perfectly manicured claws and a brass anklet that chimed with every subtle movement that slowly revealed his mate.

"So you remembered that I _was_ interested back at Christmas finally, huh?" Chance grinned as Jake slowly worked his way into the room.

"Yes, I remembered," Jake grinned back as he moved to the music, the chimes on his ankles, wrists, tail, waist ringing.

Chance blinked as it sank in that Jake had gone well beyond just dressing up. His long hair had been done up in a multitude of tight braids and dyed in a subtle rainbow with a few metallic strands among them.

"Man you work fast," he purred appreciatively. "Hope that washes out," he chuckled.

"I can," he tipped his head to cause it to tinkle a little more. "Unless you decide you like it."

"We'll see," Chance purred, reminding himself to keep his hands to himself as Jake moved and swayed seductively. "You _are_ pretty good at this."

"I've been putting in some practice while teaching Cindy," he said as the translucent vest, embroidered in silver, began to work it's way off his shoulders a bit at a time.

"Just between us, I think you're better," Chance grinned. "She just can't move the way you can."

"No tail, no ears, no whiskers," Jake purred and tossed his jacket to Chance. "She's good for a human though," he let his eyes drift closed as he sank completely into the performance and the feeling of an audience that wasn't correcting or questioning him at every turn.

"And not half as limber," Chance purred, inhaling Jake's scent from the jacket before folding it slightly and putting it to the side. It was easy to pick up the building traces of arousal along with the rest of his mate's scent, and between that and Jake's sensual movements, Chance was sure that he'd be more than ready for him when the dance was finally through.

Just as clear an indicator was the touch of pink starting to show behind the gold mesh cup that highlighted more than concealed Jake's balls and sheath. Chance licked his lips and quickly pulled his own shirt off to mirror, in a way, Jake's level of undressing.

"So just how far undressed do you want me?" Jake purred throatily as his movements brought him close enough to caress Chance's face for a moment.

"This is good," Chance rumbled, fighting the urge to pull Jake closer and kiss him. "More might come off later, but right now, I kinda like the thought of you under me, dressed like that."

"Good," Jake slid his hands down his chest. "Want me on your lap, or on my knees?"

"Mmm ... on your knees," Chance grinned and undid his jeans as he toed his shoes off. "Hands and knees, and give me some room to work," he winked.

"Anything you wish," Jake shivered in excitement and made a production of kneeling, lifting his tail and lowering his hand to the floor. Every movement accentuated by the glitter of gold and chiming of fine metal trinkets.

Chance moved to kneel behind him, nuzzling his balls lightly through the golden cup before shifting up, gripping Jake's silk-clad ass and spreading his cheeks to run his rough tongue over the lean tom's tight pucker.

Jake moaned in surprise and pleasure at the slow start and felt himself start to fill out the mesh cup containing his cock and balls.

"I can do slow too, y'know," Chance purred up at him, shifting one hand up to slowly work the patch above his tail as he tongued Jake's anus, and the sensitive piece of skin between there and his balls. As the lean tom began to tremble, he reached forward to tug the golden mesh down a bit so Jake's cock wasn't trapped anymore, but his balls and sheath still were.

"It's just been forever," Jake whimpered, his body trembling in enjoyment of the tingling pleasure and the promise of more than a little actual foreplay to come.

"Y'oughta let me know, next time you're in the mood for it," Chance purred, running the back of one claw up the underside of Jake's shaft. "We have _got_ to get more time like this for the two of us...."

"Saturdays?" Jake whimpered, already planning to take advantage of his mate's mood. "Sweet Bastet you feel good."

"We'll have to talk it over with Marie, but I think we can do Saturdays," Chance rumbled, slipping his tongue ever so slightly into Jake's ass, teasing his barbs with his claws. "Get you out of the lab," he purred.

"Or take me in the lab," Jake suggested between whimpering cries of the pleasure he loved more than anything; slow and tender. He was sure he could even give up pain if he got this often enough.

"Mmm ... slow, like this, out where you can be seen?" Chance asked with a half-grin, moving up to kiss the base of Jake's tail as he pressed a finger up into his ass. "Or is that when you want it hard and fast?"

"Hard, fast," Jake gasped, even as the thought of being tied down and this amount of time taken where they might be walked in on made his cock twitch. "Mostly," he added as the penetration evened out from the intense pleasure of that first opening up to a more steady pleasure of being filled with part of another.

"Mmm ... ready for the real thing?" Chance asked, probing Jake's prostate and moving up, covering the smaller tom's body with his own, nipping the scruff of his neck.

"Oh yeah," he moaned and pressed up against the powerful body above him, unsure which one of them were getting off more on the silky fabric that separated their legs and the mesh that contained Jake's groin. "Take me, please."

Chance removed his fingers from Jake's ass, shifting to press his cock deep into the tom's body as his bracelets and anklets jingled against each other. The tabby's fingers wrapped around Jake's rigid shaft, stroking him smoothly in time with his powerful thrusts.

He felt Jake's moans as much as heard them; around his cock buried deep in Jake's body, through the pads on his hand wrapped around Jake's cock, and through his chest as Jake pressed his back upwards for as much contact as possible.

"You are so hot, love," Chance whispered and closed his eyes briefly to focus on the pleasure in his body and taking enough control of it to avoid coming just yet. It was so sweet to have Jake like this and just for him. He savored the feel of his shaft sliding in and out of Jake's body, toying with his barbs, biting down on his scruff. He held back as well as he could, enjoying the sensations of his mate's body rippling around him, both of them trembling with pleasure and anticipation.

The past few months had made these moments feel so much sweeter.

He'd never felt jealous of Marie, not really, but he did miss being Jake's exclusive lover at home. There was something special about it that he'd never thought about until it wasn't there anymore. No matter how either of them roamed, when they came home, it was just them. Now, every so often, he wondered if Jake would miss him for long if he didn't come back some day.

"Love you," Jake moaned as he began to loose control, his pre making Chance's hand slick and increasing the pleasure to the point all he could do was breathe and try not to give in to the building pressure.

"Love you too, Jake," Chance moaned back, pressing his face against Jake's shoulder before he groaned deeply, his balls pulling up close, pumping their contents deep into Jake's bowels. It was all Jake was waiting for and he gave in, his roar mingling with his mate's as his body tightened to milk his mate dry while he spilled his own seed on the floor under him.

Chance shifted his hands, hugging Jake close as he finished.

"Love you _so_ much," he murmured, kissing Jake's neck tenderly.

* * *

"So what _are_ the boys up to that you're suddenly looking to go out tonight?" Cindy asked as she and Marie got out of her car near Heat Wave.

"Jake's decided that he's remembered enough of that dance he's teaching you to put on a performance," Marie grinned at her friend. "A boy's night in."

"So you're looking to find another guy of your own?" Cindy teased.

"No, thank you," Marie chuckled, shaking her head. "Just looking to have a good time and watch you try to fill a night without the tabby," she teased back.

"You make it sound like we spend every night together or something," the blonde chuckled. "Trust me, it's nowhere _near_ that."

"I get enough time without him to know it's plenty," Marie teased back as they went inside. She took a deep breath of a place, and friend, that she hadn't spent nearly as much time with as she used to. "It's been a while."

"Yeah, well, between work and your boyfriends I don't blame you," Cindy smiled. "So, what have you been up to?"

"Proof of concept in a couple dozen animals for the Rebirth Project mostly," Marie said as they made their way to the bar. "And trying to drag out of the guys what's up with Lurin."

"The new guy, huh? What _is_ up with him? Kind of cute, if you ask me, at least in his own way."

"For a serious giant," Marie nodded. "So far I think it's just them being uneasy about somebody from back home learning their secret. Then that somebody being of somewhat questionable morals, in their opinion."

"Hey, giants have their strong points," Cindy smirked. "And you're probably right... what makes 'em worry about his morals though? Hasn't done anything around here nobody else has done, as far as I've heard."

"From back home," Marie said as their beers were handed over. "I gather that he's worked for some very unsavory types; the mob and such. Doesn't ask questions if the money's right."

"Something they know, or just their suspicions?" Cindy asked seriously. "If they know for sure, Stark oughta know... that sort of attitude can be _real_ dangerous around here."

"I think they just suspect," Marie admitted quietly. "Jake at least recognizes his style as some of what they've fought over the years. Stark does know, but there is only so much that can be proven so far from any context."

"True," Cindy nodded. "Of course, it could just be that he was in Jake's spot too, for a while... if he had to sell some of his designs to get by until he got a legitimate job, who knows who might've gotten 'em?"

"Keep in mind that just that puts him well below their moral standards," Marie shook her head slightly. "Something none of us would think twice about is more than enough to put those two on edge. If their real names ever got linked to their call names, they'd be lucky to just be dead or locked up for life. Sometimes I think they come from more than just a different world with how different their thinking is. That 'scientist brat talking to a military brat' type thing. Every so often we're talking along fine, and they just go somewhere that leaves me lost."

"At least you've got Jake to help you understand things," Cindy mused. "You'll get into it, eventually... if you have to. So, other than Lurin, things are doing pretty well?"

"I think so," she nodded and sipped her beer as they watched the crowd. "It's a big help that Chance is so into women. If Jake was the other guy, it'd be a lot dicer to keep this up."

"As I recall; Chance all but set you and Jake up," Cindy pointed out with a giggle. "He shouldn't have a problem after that."

"He set us up, but that doesn't necessarily mean the same thing as being ready for what that might've meant," Marie countered. "You know how it can be. You've managed to stay out of it, but we've both seen swinging couples break up when it got serious ... even when the other one _thought_ they wanted to see it get serious."

"Yeah, but you're not talking about your usual swingers with those two," Cindy shrugged a bit. "They're used to three-way relationships, remember? Or more than that, even."

"I know, it's just still a little nerve-wracking when I think about it too much," Marie admitted. "Guess that's my cultural hang-ups coming through."

"You'll probably feel better about it after the wedding," Cindy smiled, sipping her drink. "You guys talk about it any more? I've been keeping your Mom from storming the place with dress designs, but only just barely," she teased.

"Jake's been working with Henry on a holographic setup to make one of the hangers look like a temple inside and out, though I think a fair chunk's going to be more traditional faux finishes and Eureka faux," Marie giggled. "Vincent has been relentless about the food, and I have to say, it's weird, but eating an almost MegaKat City celebration diet isn't that bad."

"Ooh, am I going to get to taste test some of this some time?" Cindy asked with a grin. "And have you guys thought at all about whether or not Chance is going to be involved, and how?"

"I think it's going to end up being a traditional Kat three-way wedding with a few human elements, and you can try it anytime you want. Just tell Vincent for some Kat cuisine," she winked.

"Noted," Cindy giggled. "Mmm ... you don't mind the idea of sharin' the wedding?"

"Sometimes," she admitted very quietly. "I don't think _any_ bride-to-be around here thinks there'll be a third person, much less guy, re-marrying the groom at the same time, but it's not right to leave him out. You ever seen Jake when his voice goes all quiet?"

"Don't think so," Cindy shook her head and watched her friend relive a pivotal moment in her understanding of her boyfriend.

"The entire point of the ceremony is to put the truth on public display. Leaving Chance out ... there's no way the truth of either of our lives can be there without him." Marie tried to explain something she understood on a gut level better than intellectually, and objected to on the same level.

"There any way you could both be happy with it?" Cindy asked softly. "Give Jake the truth, and give you the day at least _mostly_ to yourself?"

"That's the plan, such as it is," she nodded. "Chance is willing to back out, Jake's mostly willing to let him, but knowing what the ceremony means to Jake, and in their world, and how seriously he takes it, I can't. As usual, I'm creating my own grief," she smiled weakly. "The guys are really trying to make it work for me, it's really for me, but I want it to mean something important to Jake if he goes home, and that is giving me the headaches."

"What's the part that's most important to have to yourself, for you?" Cindy asked, mulling it over. "The ceremony, or the party afterwards?"

"The vows," Marie signed. "Of the whole thing, that's what I keep coming back to. Walking down the isle at the beginning is second," she smiled slightly. "It'll work out, Cindy. I just have to work on being okay with not having a fairytale white wedding to have one that means something to everyone. That's part of why we are looking so far ahead. We _are_ mixing two very different cultures and we still have to work out exactly what is most important to each of us so in the end it's important to all of us."

"Okay then," Cindy smiled. "New topic good?"

"New topic _very_ good," Marie chuckled.

"Okay... I need to ask you for a bit of career advice."

Marie raised an eyebrow and flicked her ears forward. "From me?"

"Yeah... it's not _that_ ridiculous an idea, y'know?" Cindy smirked slightly, before taking a long drink. "You know about my friends in the adult entertainment biz? The ones I've done camera setups for and stuff?"

"Yes," she nodded, openly curious now.

"Well... I've got a standing offer to take over for their old camera director, with options in writing, possibly even getting into directing with a bit of time to prove I know what I'm doing. Professionally this time, not just amateur."

"So you're thinking about quitting Eureka to go into movies?" Marie cocked her head, the tip of her tail swaying lightly as she thought. "Because something's going poorly here, or it's just more interesting there?"

"More interesting there, mostly," Cindy admitted. "The sort of work I'm in ... I've been making cameras smaller and harder to spot for years. I've been putting them in remotes for years ... and it might be interesting work, but I feel like I'm reaching the point where even the new stuff is more of the same. _I_ don't feel like I've got anywhere to grow here. It's a good offer, and it's something I've enjoyed doing for years, so ... kinda sounds like it's just what the doctor ordered. And who knows? If it doesn't work out, I might be able to get Stark to hire me back."

"Will it be a good living?" Cindy asked seriously. "You are used to one of the highest standards in the world among the working class with a ton of perks and have been here almost your whole life. Will it be a downgrade when it's all worked out?"

"If it does work out to a downgrade, it shouldn't be a serious one. I made it very clear that I've got a pretty high price tag... that's one of the things that could be a sticking point with it, really. I'm going to have to negotiate with them, but I _should_ be able to at least hold steady. Hell, with what I could make sub-letting some of my camera designs out, I might even be able to do better. They're using them in the industry, but I can show folks what they can _really_ do, get 'em used a bit more widely."

"If it works out that well, it sounds like a good move for you," Marie admitted. "I'll miss having my best friend in town."

"Yeah ... that's gonna be the one thing I'll really miss," Cindy admitted with a fond smile. "But hey, I'll keep in touch ... come visit when I get the chance. Who knows?" She laughed. "Maybe one of these days I'd get a chance to open my very own studio right here," she grinned.

"Stark will be _thrilled_ ," Marie laughed deeply. "Maybe at least fake getting into serious CGI, so you can show all the vids you make," she winked.

"I'll consider it," Cindy giggled. "Glad you don't think it's a totally crazy idea. It's not something I have to decide on overnight either; I'm going to be making a few movies before the final decisions are made just so they know they're not looking at hiring somebody who'll completely blow it, or who'll hate it and want out after six weeks." She finished her drink, looking out at the dance floor and raising an eyebrow.

"Well, look who's here," she grinned.

"He stands out no matter what he looks like," Marie chuckled, taking in the body-building linebacker of a black man that stood over eight feet tall. "He's nearly as unusual as his real appearance."

"Mmm ... so, which one is cuter?" Cindy asked, raising an eyebrow with a grin as Lurin noticed them and the dance ended, leaving him free to make his way towards them.

"Cute is not a word I would use to describe him in any form," Marie shook her head. "Kat is definitely more exotic though. Red-orange stripes on black fur."

"Any idea if he's into humans?" Cindy asked.

"No clue," she shook her head. "I just know he's into the S of S&M, and damn good at it from Jake's comments"

"Ah," Cindy nodded, turning to order another drink as Lurin approached them.

"Good evening, ladies," he rumbled deeply. "Surprised to see you here on your own, Marie," he smiled. "May I?" He asked with a nod towards the table they were sitting at.

"Sure," she nodded. "How are things going for you?"

"Better than I'd thought they would," he admitted, pulling over an extra chair and sitting down. "I take it that it's okay to have the holo-belts off around here?" He asked with a nod to emphasize the fact that she wasn't using hers currently. "Or are they trying to keep the fact that there are more new arrivals quiet?"

"It's mostly on your comfort level, I think. How much you want to fit in, or stand out," Marie said. "The guys wear them sometimes, and sometimes don't. I rarely do."

"In that case, I don't mind causing a few waves here," he chuckled, reaching down and turning his off as Cindy looked back with interest, accepting her Old Fashioned from a server as she openly looked Lurin over.

"Not bad," she smiled. "So you really are as huge as you look."

"Even back home, I'm big," he chuckled deeply. "I've met a few who could look down at me, but there aren't many."

"So, how's the jet reconstruction going?" Cindy asked him.

"We've finished it, actually," he said easily. "I've gotten the chance to start on a few other projects, including looking for a way back home."

"Have you made any progress?" Marie asked with open interest.

"Some... I have some experience with dimensional sciences from back home. There seems to be something around here that's making my readings go awry though."

"Jake was making some of the same complaints when he started, I think," Marie said about as much as she could on a subject that was as far out of her field as they got. "Eureka does seem to have it's own take on reality at times."

"That sounds about right," Lurin chuckled. "Of course, in the meantime, if I had to be stranded somewhere I could do far worse than here," he rumbled, looking between Marie and Cindy.

"Including just about anywhere on Earth," Cindy grinned and leaned forward a bit. "I hear you're into S&M. Into not having it?"

"I'm open to the possibility," he purred. "Considering an offer?"

"Mmm, yes," Cindy considered him from behind her glass. "I do enjoy new experiences, and I think you would qualify."

"And filming something exotic even by Kat standards?" he raised an eyebrow at her.

"Only when it's agreed to," Cindy countered with a quick seriousness. "But yes."

"So if it's not the kink, what do you think I'll bring that the tabby doesn't?" Lurin challenged her playfully.

"Mmm ... well, besides the fact that you've got a couple feet on him and I'm curious if that carries through to... other things?" She winked playfully. "I've got a few ideas."

"It does," he rumbled with a grin. "Care to talk about those ideas?"

"Depends on whether or not you mind being filmed, and whether or not Marie wants to hear," Cindy teased, glancing at her friend.

"Which is my cue to head for the dance floor unless I want to spend the night blushing," the Cat laughed, shaking her head. "I'll see you two around," she said, standing and heading out to join the crowd.

"I don't think I mind being filmed," he grinned.

" _Great_ ," Cindy grinned. "What sort of things are you into, besides the pain play? Most of my ideas get into outfits, setting, that sort of thing."

"Domination, bondage, that kind of thing," he said easily.

"All as the top, I assume?" She grinned, running through her general list of things to try that would be even more interesting with somebody as massive and obviously powerful as Lurin. "What do you think of having a pretty new pet to play with for the night? Maybe something vaguely Indian?"

"I'm sure it will be appealing, whatever that looks like," his grinned widened into an open leer. "Care to discuss the details in more private surroundings?"

"Sure," she grinned back. "You have a car? I came here with Marie."

"Yes," Lurin stood and watched as she picked up her purse and stood. "My place, or yours? I haven't had time to make much of mine yet."

"Mine," Cindy said easily. "It's where I've got all my cameras and costumes tonight. I'll give you the directions."

"Sounds good," Lurin agreed and led her out of the club with a hand on her back.

"How much do you need to focus on your driving?" Cindy asked him teasingly as he led her to his car.

"Very little," he rumbled and looked down at her. "Have plans to start early?"

"You prefer hands, or mouth?" She asked him with a grin, letting her question serve as his answer.

"Mouth," he rumbled and opened the passenger side door of his oversized car for her.

"Good," she rumbled back, climbing in and buckling her seat belt before slipping out from under the shoulder strap and waiting for him to climb in. "I'll let you get going before I get started," she grinned, reaching down to finger his crotch lightly as he sat down. What she felt under it, the incredible example of the male sex made her shiver in anticipation of having it deep inside her and the power of the body that would drive it.

"I think I'm going to enjoy tonight," Lurin grinned down at her and started the car. "Do you enjoy being play-forced?"

"As long as it's still play," she grinned, unzipping his pants and fondling him through his underwear while he started to pull out. "If you'd rather do that than have a 'willing' pet tonight, I'm good for it."

"It's very appealing," he admitted with a grinned down at her as he reached over to fondle the back of her head. "Not many are up for such games."

"And you enjoy them a great deal," Cindy added before she mouthed him through his underwear.

"Oh yes," Lurin let his eyes close briefly, relishing her willing, playful attention as much as he was anticipating getting to pretend to rape her.

"Any fantasies I could do for you?" She asked him, working his underwear down and coaxing his shaft out, her breath catching as she saw just how big he was even without being fully hard. " _Wow_."

"Fight me, at least for the first hour or two," he chuckled deeply. "Really act like it's for real."

"First hour or two, huh?" She smirked, licking the side of his shaft. "Mmm... you think you can keep up with Chance?" She teased lightly, nuzzling his barbs.

"I can surpass him," Lurin said with a mixture of confidence and determination before turning into her driveway. "That tabby has nothing on me."

"Now _that_ is confidence," she grinned, licking him from base to tip before working him back into his pants. "So, we go in, I get the cameras going in my bedroom, and you 'break in' a few minutes later?" She offered.

"Just start with an intro that includes that's the plan," he said and opened the door. "Just don't be wearing anything you object to getting damaged."

"Okay. What's your safe word?" She asked, leading him into the house.

"Kirote," he said, then caught her expression and realized it had no translation. "It's a type of deep water fish."

"Just don't hold it against me if I can't pronounce it right," she said seriously. "Beyond that... steer away from pain for pain's sake, and I'm all yours, hot stuff," she grinned, turning to head for her bedroom and the cameras there.

She took a few moments to line up the cameras, keeping them well hidden but giving them clear shots of the room from several angles. She stripped down next, dressing up in an outfit she could afford to lose; jeans, t-shirt, and a cheap pair of lacy panties with the matching bra that she could replace for a couple bucks in any department store. Then she went about turning the cameras on, giving them the brief disclaimer.

"Just so anybody watching this knows, I'm not _really_ video-taping my own rape," she grinned. "Just found somebody who wants to pretend I am. If you're into it too... well, which of us is naughtier?" She winked into the camera before knocking lightly on the bedroom door and returning to her bed, laying down to start reading the first book that came to hand... which she realized, about a paragraph in, was the sleazy bodice ripper she'd been working on the night before.

"Poetic irony?" She mused quietly, wondering when Lurin would be in after her briefly, then trying to focus on getting into character. He wanted her to scream, fight ... make it as hard and realistic as possible. Which given his size and strength, he wasn't really risking much. She shivered in anticipation at the pending situation, and soon realized her panties were already wet.

She nearly jumped out of her skin when the door to the master bathroom cracked as it was slammed open.

She looked over, for a moment honestly terrified that somebody else might have taken advantage of her not turning on the security system when she'd come in ... but was relieved to see that it was Lurin.

Not that she let that show.

"Who are you?" She demanded, shifting away from him on the bed in a movement carefully calculated to show off her clothed body in a natural way. "What the Hell are you doing here?"

"I'm here for you," he said as he lunged for her and landed over her with easy precision.

She shrieked, turning to try and get off the bed, out from under him, get away to somewhere safe. As much larger than her as he was, it wasn't hard to get away... but getting out of his reach before he could grab her and haul her back was another issue.

He had both her hands in one of his own to free up his other hand to claw her jeans and panties off of her, leaving only slight scratches in the process. "Such a pretty, feisty little thing."

"Get off me!" She screamed, working her feet up to plant them in his stomach, trying to push him off while he was a touch off balanced unzipping his pants. All it did was inform her that he was not only tall and big, but solid muscle.

Lurin only chuckled and forced his free hand between her legs. "Do I turn you on, you naughty creature?" he grinned down at her.

She gasped as his fingers rubbed over her slick, soaking sex.

"Bastard!" She spat at him, whimpering softly as she tried to free her hands, to no avail. "Get off of me!"

"I think I'll get in you," he countered and pressed one large finger into her sex and began to finger her with a furred digit nearly as big as many a guy's cock.

"Fuck!" She gasped, eyes wide as her body stiffened. She flexed her hands, trying to get them loose as she struggled beneath him. "Help!" She screamed as loud as she could, privately confident that her house's soundproofing was up to keeping anybody from _really_ answering her.

Lurin leered down at her and shifted to work his pants down without letting her loose or freeing his finger from her body as she began to squirm.

"God, stop!" She pleaded, whimpering as her body started to milk his finger, as much on instinct as anything else, not sure if it wanted to be filled further, or to try and force him out.

She whimpered when he pulled his finger free and felt her eyes goes wide on reflex as she felt the rough tip of his cock press past her labia's lips, then began to force his way into her body.

"Oh shit... fuck... no!" She screamed again, this time sincerely as he stretched her body wide. His cock alone would have been painfully huge, but with his barbs on top of it she was sure that there wasn't much else that _could_ match this. "Fuck!"

"So tight," Lurin gasped as he continued to press forward, forcing himself into her wet, hot sex more slowly than she had original expected. "Been forever."

"God... please, stop!" She sobbed, struggling beneath him, the mix of pain and pleasure _right_ on the border of her comfort zone, though it was slowly heading towards pleasure as her body stretched to accommodate him.

"Make me," he sneered down at her and made a hard shove to hilt himself, only to move her up the bed a couple inches. He growled and looked around before slipping his belt loose.

Her breath was stolen as he hilted inside of her, the pain that stabbed through her sex when his cock slammed into her cervix freezing her while he bound her hands to the headboard.

"Why are you doing this to me?" She managed to cry out as he started thrusting into her tight, hot, dripping body again, both his hands free to hold her against his thrusts so he really could bury himself to the point that her quivering body pushed his sheath down as close to his pelvis as it would go.

"You caught my attention," he shrugged, panting as he barred his teeth, right on the edge already from her body.

"St-st-sto-op!" She screamed, her body tightening in an orgasm that shook her from head to toe, her body clenching down around his shaft like a vise!

It was more than he could stand and on the next thrust he let go a roar that rattled all the windows and she was sure could be heard for a mile. He cracked the head of his cock against her cervix with each thrust that shot hot seed against it and squirted it into her womb with a force she could feel on the far side.

Her eyes wide, she shook and tried to catch her breath, each thrust knocking it out of her. Finally, he stopped for a few minutes, letting her breathe again.

"Shit," she moaned deeply, forcing herself to remember that she was supposed to keep fighting him when she could. While that was going through her mind, she realized that he had reached up and was loosening his belt.

Before she had a chance to react, he stood up with her still impaled on him. One hand held her up while the other tightened the belt to hold her wrists behind her, and be began to thrust again, his seed and her juices flowing from her each time he pulled her up to pull out.

"Aaanh!" She cried out, her body aching erotically every time he impaled her on his shaft. She made a show for the camera when she realized that she'd be torn apart if she tightened herself up any more. "Please... stop!" She leaned her head forward, against his chest, tears flowing freely as he took her. "Wha-what do you want?"

"To be sated," he rumbled, his claws making tiny pin-pricks in her skin as he moved her to best effect for himself.

Cindy whimpered, unable to control herself and the incredible mix of pleasure with a very sexual pain as he came again, his seed pounding her insides nearly as hard as his cock did.

She didn't even get a chance to catch her breath before he pulled her off and she was slammed chest-down on the bed with his weight on top of her again, his still-hard cock pressing into her sex relentlessly.

Her fingers curled the short fur of his chest where he pressed down against her. She was beyond words at the moment, desperately grateful that he was only fucking her - if he was doing much more, she wasn't sure if she _could_ use the safe-word.

Lurin grunted again, his balls tightening as the tightness of her body demanded even more from him that he willingly gave with a roar.

Cindy could only sob as he picked up again, barely pausing from his orgasm as he shifted his weight and put a hand squarely on her back between her bound hands. A heartbeat later she felt his weight press down on her back, compressing her chest.

Her fingers tightened more, her eyes going wide as she fought for every fraction of a breath his weight on her back allowed her.

"Stop!" She croaked; if he didn't do it soon, she wasn't sure if she'd have the _air_ for the safe-word.

He let up a bit by shifting his weight to his other hand, but only enough so each breath wasn't quite the challenge. It still left her paying more attention to breathing than what was happening to her body.

Her body was burning for more air; she sucked in all she could as he fucked her hard and deep, her pussy pouring juices and Xanith-seed onto the bed as he pulled out of her and slammed himself back in. She closed her eyes tight, trying to focus enough to think about more than air.

It wasn't easy. She was sure he didn't particularly get off when his bed-mate wasn't suffering.

A gush of air exploded from her mouth as his full weight landed on her back briefly, but then he moved off her, pulled out of her, and hauled her upright to press his cock into her mouth with both hands nearly covering her head.

Normally, it would have been a welcome reprieve, but with the massive cock that was shoved into her throat, she was having an even harder time breathing than when he'd been on her back.

She started fighting him, in earnest this time, trying to get the message through that he needed to let go and back off. She couldn't use the safe-word like this, and she didn't _want_ to use her last-resort ... not yet, at any rate.

She was _so_ not going to let him near her again.

She started to bite down, just enough that he might get the point, and started to suck in air as soon as he pulled out enough.

"Kirote," she gasped as soon as she could, pulling back from him as much as he'd let her, drawing in another breath greedily. "Kirote!"

Lurin growled his displeasure but let her go and shifted back on his haunches as she sputtered and gasped for air.

"Sorry," she managed to get out, gradually breathing more normally again. "That was a little too close to the real thing for me... don't do that again, and we can keep going in a bit, unless I wrecked the mood," she said apologetically... though she wasn't entirely sure why _she_ was the one who was apologizing. Probably because he _had_ listened once she'd gotten the word out. After all, she'd been the one who'd suggested acting like a rape. She just didn't have a clue when she did that he was entirely too comfortable with it.

She was sure she understood now what Jake and Chance were reacting to when they said they didn't trust Lurin, didn't like him. He didn't have nearly the morals even she had expected.

"Anything you want to try?" Lurin offered.

"Maybe sucking you off while I _can_ breathe?" She offered. "If you're willing to use some _serious_ lube I might be up for anal."

"Sounds good," he chuckled and leaned forward to kiss her lightly. "I'm willing to take my time when it's needed."

"Okay," she smiled weakly, kissing him back and reaching over to open the drawer she kept the lube in. "Anything else I could do for you, since I think I kinda broke the whole rape-fantasy thing?"

"Mmm," he considered her, then grinned. "Prepare yourself for me."

"Okay," she grinned back, getting back into the mood, taking out a healthy supply of the lube to spread across his cock before she turned around, reaching back to spread the firm globes of her ass, exposing her tight, pink pucker. She spread a bit of lube around it, moaning softly as she rubbed, loosening herself up and putting on a show for him. As she pulled out a little tube that she slipped up inside her body, squirting a substantial amount of the thick gel into her ass, copious amount of his seed spilled from her sex.

"I have not even begun to fuck you," Lurin licked his lips and watched, then slowly began to stroke himself as he watched lustfully. "Such a tight looking ass."

"Mmm... just hope it's not _too_ tight," Cindy grinned back at him. "If I have to use the safeword again, I'll make it up for you," she promised him, working the muscles of her insides to help spread the lube around, a little bit dribbling out of her tight pucker once she removed the tube.

"Okay," she said, taking a deep breath and bracing herself for him, sure that this was going to hurt just as badly as her first time had, if not more.

She felt his hand on her rump first, then a furry object slowly press into her ass. It only took her a moment to realize he was fingering her, stretching her out with a reasonable amount of care. There was no real way this wasn't going to hurt, but he seemed to be trying to make up for scaring her so badly earlier.

"Thank you," she moaned softly, squeezing down a bit around his fingers. "Mmm ... what you did earlier ... never done anything like that before."

"I'm sure a repeat can be arranged," he suggested as he worked her ass, getting her to relax with two fingers inside her before he removed them and grabbed her hips. She moaned through a whimper as he pressed his hips forward steadily, spreading her wider than his fingers, or than she'd ever been before,

"Oh God," she whimpered softly. "Mmm... the fucking was incredible... but I'm really not sure about the whole... mmnh... not breathing part," she chuckled weakly, biting down on the pillow to keep from screaming too much as his conical, barbed shaft stretched her _beyond_ what she'd thought her limits were before.

"I can do much better," he promised through panting breaths as he tried not to come until he was at least fully inside her. "Much longer," he grunted.

"I'll bet you can," she moaned, squeezing down _very_ slightly around him. "Fuck, you're like a machine!"

"I told you that tabby had nothing on me," Lurin laughed, a victorious sound that turned into a deep moan as he began to pull out and her body pulled and squeezed each of the rubbery barbs before they got out.

"Nnngh... don't know if I wanna compare or not!" She gasped. "Hell of a... way to go though!"

"Anytime you want to try, pretty," Lurin rumbled seductively and began to thrust into her again.

"Oooh ... Chance'd never go for it," she moaned, giggling a bit. "Mmm ... this is good. _So_ huge!"

"His pride might get the better of him," Lurin grinned and set up a rhythm that wouldn't push either of them over the edge too fast, but it was a losing battle.

"Fill me," she moaned, aching to feel his shaft erupting deep in her ass, adding to the lube that was already there to make his thrusts easier. "Please fill my ass, Lurin!"

The giant tom chuckled and thrust into her deep and hard, pulled out and slammed forward as his balls gave up another load.

She cried out, an orgasm of her own shivering through her body. One of his powerful hands moved up, gripping her shoulder... then his fingers pressed down along her neck. His seed poured into her as she felt a sharp pain in her shoulder... and she was out before she had the time to realize anything more than that, a limp plaything for the massive Xanith on top of her, breathing shallowly.


	23. Coming Out Parties

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's a lot of first appearances and mornings after in Eureka, most of them less than welcome.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written with Karl Wolfemann

The next day, Cindy was clearly wiped out by the night before, wearing a light, long-sleeved shirt and slacks as she met Marie for lunch at the Cafe.

"So, how are Chance and Jake doing?" She asked, sitting down gingerly with her lunch.

"Very snuggly," Marie smiled, though there was worry on her face too. "Boys night seems to agree with them. Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine," Cindy said, glancing down at her food. "So, you find something to occupy your night?" She teased, trying to change the subject.

"Yes, but not someone," she chuckled. "How did it go with Lurin?"

"Spoil sport," Cindy chuckled slightly, taking a bite of her sandwich. "And honestly... I think you guys are right about him. I am _not_ doing that again, at least not without Chance or somebody else there too."

"Just how bad ...." Marie focused sharply, her untrained feline senses seeking clues beyond the words.

Now that she focused on it, she could pick up the hints ... mostly the faint smell of cleaned blood and much strong masking smells of medication.

"Not _that_ bad," Cindy said defensively. "He just... has an idea of fun that's _way_ out there for me."

"I could have told you that," Marie flicked her ears back slightly. "It's why Jake fell for him so bad."

"I know," Cindy sighed. "I just figured he had a lower setting, y'know? Like Jake does. He's incredible when he tries to hold back," she observed.

"And Chance is incredible without holding back," Marie pointed out. "Just what did he do?"

"You want the full details, or just the bad parts?" Cindy asked with a sigh. "I'm only telling you this because _you're_ the one asking, you know," she added.

"All of it, I think," Marie said softly. "Might as well hear the good with the bad."

"The good...." Cindy shivered. "The guy's a size queen's dream-date, and he knows how to use it. He's got raw power to spare; I might not be into pain, but you know I like subbing, and he is one _hell_ of a dom, in some ways. First guy I've met in a while who was willing to indulge that little fantasy of mine," she said, glancing around with a deep blush. "Got a little _too_ into it himself."

"That fits the darker side the guys see in him," Marie sighed. "Please tell me you're not planning to see him again."

"Like I said, not unless I've got somebody there to watch him," Cindy nodded slightly. "I'll give him one thing though, he's creative. Started out with making it hard for me to breathe ... stopped when I used the safe word," she pointed out quickly, catching the panicked expression on Marie's face. "Seemed to take it pretty well, until he used some sort of nerve pinch to knock me out. Still haven't worked up the nerve to watch the video of what happened after, but I know he didn't stop, probably not until close to morning."

"Think he did anything but ... anything too far then?" Marie tried to get a better feel for just how upset she should be with Lurin.

"Clawed me up royally, but nothing too deep," Cindy said, shaking her head. "Some neosporin, an understanding person to help me get it in proper places, and I'll be good as new ... might consider a couple piercings, but that's about it."

"You know I'll help," Marie sighed. "You _are_ going to put word out on him, right?"

"With the people who'd listen to me," Cindy nodded. "Tell Jake to warn Cathy, will you? She'll listen to him better than me ... have an idea if Lurin's actually her speed or not. And ah ... you _don't_ have to be the understanding person," she blushed. "It's not _just_ my back he clawed up...."

"Tender bits too," Marie murmured. "I'd suggest Chance, but he'd take this entirely too personally. I'll make sure Jake passes word on to his playmates into it."

"I think I'll be able to find somebody willing to stare at the regions in question," Cindy chuckled slightly, cracking a half-grin. "I haven't had a hard time of it in the past."

"Just most of them will be more interested in playing with them than putting ointment on," Marie pointed out with a snicker.

"Yeah, well, if they're gentle I might not mind," Cindy giggled. "Mmm... after last night, I could _use_ gentle. Thanks for not flying off the handle... or saying 'I told you so.'"

Marie smiled slightly. "You have someone in mind?"

"You know Tonya, the girl Chance has gone with a couple times who's into body-paint?" Cindy giggled. "She's into girls too... we're not really dating or anything, but I don't think she'd mind if I called."

"I've seen her in feline getup," Marie giggled. "She makes a reasonably good fake Tigress according to the guys."

"And while she can do rough, she's into gentle too," Cindy chuckled. "So, how's your Dad doing? Been a while since I've seen him, and I forgot to ask last night."

"Still healthy and helping me with Rebirth. He's starting up a new project, but I don't know much about it yet," Marie admitted. "He's terribly eager for Jo to mellow out and let him see the puppies."

"Him and everybody else who knows about 'em," Cindy grinned. "Sounds like they're cute, in a big kinda way."

"Yeah, they're big as German Shepard's now, and their eyes and ears are only just starting to open," Marie nodded. "Nobody's sure when they'll be able to shift, but until then they are going to be a serious drain on Taggart's meat reserves," she grinned playfully. "They are _so_ cute."

"Mmm ... well, as soon as they're open to meeting people, I wanna know," Cindy grinned. "Smart as people?"

"Taggart says they're smarter than animals their age, but it's really hard to tell at less than a month old. They're only just starting to be mobile beyond the belly scoot."

"I suppose it would be," Cindy nodded easily, finishing up her lunch. "Guess it's hard to remember that they're going to develop like _kids_ , not just like puppies... hope they don't end up with complexes out of it."

"With Taggart and Dad in charge of them, I doubt it'll happen. I also doubt they'll be in the normal school system. I don't think even Eureka is ready for that yet."

"Hey, can't ask for a better place than this to support home schooling," Cindy pointed out. "Social skills are going to be the tricky part, no matter how it works out."

"Oh yeah, and Beverly is going to be helping out as soon as Jo's maternal instincts cool off, which should be any day now," Marie agreed. "No one wants to see them grow up as anything but extremely well adjusted people. Following their dad's example is so not going to happen."

"No kidding," Cindy shuddered. "How widely known is what they are going to be, officially?"

"Right now, as secret as anything like it can be," Marie admitted quietly, keeping an ear open for who was listening. "It's as much for their safety as for Jo and the project their folks came out of. There is no way it's going into public, but officially we're trying to keep it quiet. Who Dad is is definitely as hush-hush as anything here."

"Unlike you and the Kats," Cindy giggled.

"Officially, we're keeping that quiet too," she shook her head. "But yeah."

"Officially, but unofficially you hate your holo-belt and Chance loves the attention his fur gets him," Cindy grinned. "I should probably get going soon... have a good day, okay? Give Chance my regards, and remember to have Jake warn his playmates about Lurin."

"I will, and you take care of yourself," Marie nodded and smiled her friend off.

* * *

Taggart went on alert as soon as he stepped out of his truck, parked near Jo's den. He couldn't place exactly what was wrong, but he knew something wasn't right.

Something in the air, in the sounds, in the feel of the place, was seriously off. It was noisier; birds and small animals were about and unafraid. Something that would never happen if Jo was present.

He quickened his pace, hurrying to the den and sliding in to make sure she hadn't started moving the pups early. He didn't _think_ she would, but it was anybody's guess a lot of the time.

Jo was gone, but all four pups were still there and wrestling around.

"Jim," Jo called to him from outside, her voice at the human level. "Out here."

He followed the sound of her voice out, looked around and spotted her walking towards the den in human form, her hair tied back in a braid and dressed in her deputy uniform again.

"Feeling better now that you've gotten a shower and something to wear?" He asked her with a grin, glad to see her _looking_ more relaxed than she had in the better part of a year.

"Much," Jo nodded. "She's finally shut up, for the most part," she grinned back at him, the dangerous edge to the look finally back down to playfully dangerous. "Let's get them moved so I can go back to work."

"Carter'll be glad to hear that ... want me to call ahead and warn him?" Taggart asked teasingly. "I'll go down to pass out Jessie and Terra, get Mina and Zach myself?"

"How about we just get them to walk out and to the truck?" she suggested. "You might be able to lift two of them, but I do application of force better than brute strength."

"I wasn't sure how good they were about following or being able to climb out yet," he admitted. "I'll start them out ... they try the leashes at all yet?"

"Leashes, no problem. Jessie really hates the harness though," Jo chuckled and followed him into the den. "I'm sure you already know she's quite a handful."

"She's still not entirely convinced she isn't the alpha," Taggart chuckled, taking the leashes they'd had down for the pups to get used to. "Okay... let's get you four to your new home," he said, and was more than a bit relieved when no one started to growl or hunch down. He was still more than willing to let Jo put the harness on Jessie, though, and kept a careful eye on the tussle that resulted. 

He couldn't admit to being surprised when it ended with Jessie pinned down with a hand wrapped firmly around her muzzle until she stilled and relaxed to let her mother do as she wished. After all - even human, Jo was _not_ somebody you tried to tell what to do unless you _clearly_ had the right to.

"She takes after you a bit," he joked, getting the harness on Zach and Mina with ease.

"Then Mina takes after you," Jo said, her tone making it sound like it was meant as a compliment. "She's the explorer who stands her ground."

"We'll hope she doesn't manage to turn herself into a bigfoot then," he chuckled, giving her a light scritch before they started out of the den. Once again their personalities showed clearly. Jessie was out first, pulling at the limits of her leash and testing her mother's determination to keep her in check while Terra helped out with the plan. For his own pair, Mina was eager to get outside, but she didn't pull too hard, while Zack stayed close to his side.

"She'll find her own strange projects, I'm sure," Jo said dryly.

"We'll just have to give her time to," he chuckled, giving a slight tug on the leash as Mina started to trail off after an unusual smell. "You have any problem with them meeting some people soon? Dr. Jean Moreau, the Kats, some of the people who might have to watch out for them?"

"None," she shook her head. "They're all yours now."

"You're weaned this young?" Taggart looked at the pups, then at their mother, in real surprised.

"Close enough," Jo consented to keep feeding them. "I won't need to be by all that often for it."

"I can work on getting them used to solid food," he nodded as they headed for the truck. "How've they been since the last time I came by? And how've _you_ been?"

"Eating meat a lot, running me ragged keeping them nearby, but it's not as hard now that I feel more like myself. They're all obeying commands most of the time, same as they do for you."

"That's good," he nodded. "When you were saying you wouldn't have to be over often for the pups... was that because you want to get back to your place, or because you're assuming I don't want you around anymore?" He asked her easily and moved Mina's leash to his left hand so he could open the cage in the back of his truck. 

Jo looked at him, somewhere between startled and uncertain, until her almost reflexive spunky determination took over. "I like staying with you. I assumed the puppies would be held somewhere other than the bedroom." She said as he got Mina in easily.

Jessie and Terra followed at Jo's insistence, mostly to prove they weren't afraid, rather than because they really wanted to. He had to lift Zack up, and the boy made quick work of getting Mina between himself and his other sisters.

"Of course they would be," he chuckled. "It just sounded like you were planning on moving back to your place. You wouldn't have to."

"I'd rather not," she told him as he locked the cage and they went around front to get in the human seats.

"I'd be fine with you staying there," he smiled, climbing into the driver's seat. "Rather hoping you would, honestly," he admitted, leaning over to give her a light kiss. "Especially now that you don't need a shave anymore," he winked.

"Glad to heart that," she said and slid a hand behind his neck to pull him in for a much more intense kiss, one not very different from their first one.

"Mmm ... we _should_ probably get back," he said reluctantly as he pulled back. "But when you're back from seeing how badly Carter's screwed up the paperwork, I'll be ready to help you out with your tensions," he promised, starting the truck and pulling out to head back to his bunker-turned-house.

"I'm sure I'll give you quite a workout," she smiled seductively at him.

"I'm sure you will," he grinned back, turning his attention to driving as they found their way back to the road.

* * *

Beverly Barlow pulled into the front parking area at Taggart's bunker and shook her head. So much trauma had happened in this place, but so much healing as well for Jo and Jim. Hopefully these puppies, if intelligent, would have more of the later than the former. It would certainly make her life for the next few decades easier.

"According to Marie, they're doing fairly well, at least with each other," Jean offered, guessing at what Beverly was thinking about. "Of course, that's also for a canine social model. Thanks for the ride, by the way."

"You are welcome," she smiled at him and opened the door to get out. "Right now they do seem to be growing by the canine model. A month old human is far less developed on many levels."

"I remember," he chuckled, climbing out the passenger's side. "I just don't know how healthy it is, mentally, for them to develop that way ... that's more your department, of course."

"I expect that working with their instincts and teaching them how to function within them and human society will be for the best," she said as they walked to the front door and buzzed for admittance. "Ignoring what they are is the worst thing we can do for them and for us."

"Who is it?" Taggart's slightly distracted voice asked.

"Dr. Jean Moreau and Beverly," Jean called in. "Are the pups up for visitors?"

"If you can catch up with them," he grumbled and the door lock unlatched by remote.

"The thrills of baby animals you _can't_ tranquilize," Jean chuckled as he headed in, Beverly just behind him. Mina loped over to them, barking a warning to the others before sniffing the newcomers.

"Hello there, Mina," Jean addressed her by name and got a cock-eared look of what he thought was surprise as Beverly got the door closed before they could try and escape. "You are quite the lovely shades of gray."

"Rrr?" She rumbled, looking up at him before backing away a bit, her attention stolen by the smell of Beverly's perfume, the pup's wet nose working hard and fast as she moved over to start sniffing at the psychiatrist.

"Well, at least I can trust her to stay out of trouble while there are strangers around," Taggart grumbled. "Zack's in here, I'm not sure where Jessie and Terra got off to."

"Where will they get into the most trouble?" Jean asked him.

There was a loud yelp from the back of the house, followed by the vicious barking of two canines and the chittering squeals of something else mixed in with canine pain.

"Down by the holding pens," Taggart groaned, taking off to see what had happened. "Keep an eye on those two, will you?"

"Of course," Beverly nodded to him and walked down into the main living/lab area to find Zack.

It wasn't too hard to find the pup. He was behind the entertainment center, a remote on the floor, the TV running, and his head buried behind the television, trying to see where the sounds were coming from.

"Hello Zack," she greeted him, causing him to scrambled backwards to face her. His tail was tucked between his legs slightly, but the tip was wagging and he didn't seem afraid of her.

"Don't worry, you're not in trouble ... stay away from wires though," she warned him, reaching down to scratch him between his ears before letting him smell her, not sure how well he understood her. It was very strange to think of a creature so large as a month-old baby. His features and proportions were definitely of a young wolf puppy, but his size put him as large as an adult wolf.

He stepped forward cautiously and sniffed at her hand, then licked her fingers curiously.

"I've found Zack!" She called back to Jean, who came down with Mina trotting behind him.

"And I think Taggart's found Jessie, from the sound of it," the older Doctor chuckled slightly. "He was saying quite a few things that aren't appropriate for children to hear when he headed back with a pair of pliers."

"Pliers?" she raised an eyebrow at him.

"She found a porcupine, I believe," Jean knelt to greet Zack even as Mina came up to sniff her brother's ass.

"Well, that's one way to learn what not to sniff," Beverly mused. "Hope nothing scars."

"It rarely does with anything more than minimal care," Jean told her. "It hurts a great deal to get the quills removed, but is simple to keep from getting infected, and these little ones have their mother's healing factor to a great extent."

"Well, that's something. I'm not sure I'd want to try and mix what her temperament sounds like with a lifetime of being called on a scarred nose," Beverly chuckled slightly, looking up as the doorbell rang and Mina turned, stumbling a bit before catching her feet and taking off for the door barking, more barks coming from further in the house, along with a lengthy string of swearing in a variety of languages from Taggart.

"I'll get that," Jean said easily, turning to go back to the door as Terra loped out to join her sister in the barking and greeting the new gests ... or at least tried to before she noticed that Beverly was giving Zach attention rather than her. Before long, the psychiatrist had Zach flat on the floor and Terra standing right over him as she tried to force her to focus on her.

"Now that is just not acceptable," Beverly said sternly. "No," she stated firmly and physically moved Terra to one side, and praised her once she was standing away from her brother.

"Hi dad," Marie greeted her father and quickly slipped inside with Jake and Chance right behind her.

"Hello ... this is Mina," Jean told Chance and Jake, the pup having stopped barking and gone to full-time sniffing of Jake and Chance, snorting as she got a snoot full of fur. "Zack and Terra are in the living room, and I think Jessie's getting quills pulled out of her nose."

"Ouch," Chance winced in sympathy. "Well, she won't do that again."

"They're only a month old?" Jake asked.

"Yes," Marie nodded. "They were born big and have grown fast. Still look like puppies, though."

"So where's their mom?" Chance asked cautiously.

"Going to see if Carter's left any of the city for her to watch over while she's been out," Taggart called out. "I'll be out there in a few minutes!"

"Take your time," Marie called back and knelt to pay attention to Mina. "She's got quite a bite on her."

"Believe me, I know," Taggart replied.

"Come on, let's go see if we can keep these three busy," Jean chuckled. "It's hard to believe they're only a month old." 

Mina, having finally finished sniffing at Jake and Chance, decided to go check on her siblings ... or, at least, to see what the excitement in the other room was that everybody was going there for.

"Why you little ..." Taggart snarled shortly before there was a heavy thump and yelp of surprise more than pain. "Do _not_ bite."

"Should we go rescue Taggart?" Marie asked, glancing back as Zack, apparently deciding there were far too many people in the room, crawled under the coffee table and tucked his tail safely between his legs.

"I think he can take care of himself," Chance chuckled. "And so can Jessie from the sound of things."

"Interesting that the male is the timid one," Beverly mused as she watched Mina try to coax him out and Terra took advantage of being the only one out and about to command as much attention as she could from the bipeds.

"He was also the runt," Marie pointed out, slipping down to help Mina. It was significantly easier for her to get him to come out; like Taggart, she was one of the people who helped _keep_ Terra and Jessie from roughing him up too much. "Little guy's bigger sisters did their best to keep him in his place, so to speak."

"Like this big lug," Chance guessed, pushing Terra back down to the ground after she jumped up to lick at his face.

"Her sister's far worse," Marie said. "Terra's more of a bully-backup than one herself. Mina can put her in her place fast when she cares to."

Mina lifted her head with a woof as Chance started petting Zack lightly.

"Hard to remember they're not actually dogs sometimes," he observed.

"They are, at least in part," Jean pointed out. "Hopefully a part of them that will be able to be toned down as they mature."

"How sure are we that they'll be people when they grow up?" Jake asked as he knelt to play with Terra's ears, the opening volley of a roughhousing game that would teach her that the little brown feline wasn't to be challenged.

"About 75%, though we can't be sure," Jean explained. "With both parents being sentient, the odds are strong, but they shouldn't have been able to breed in the first place, so it's hard to tell if it will be human or wolf genetics that's dominant."

"Right now, it's clearly wolf," Chance pointed out.

"In looks, perhaps, but with shifter parents, it's very difficult to tell if they will stay that way," Marie reminded him. "If they inherit it all from their parents, they will be able to take human form, and presumable will have human intelligence."

"Without their father's temperament, if all goes well," Jean added. "There was nothing in his background to suggest congenital insanity."

"Jessie seems to have picked up his temperament, if not his insanity," Taggart said as he came into the room and tossed the pliers onto a workbench, his arm and hand bloody enough to already be soaking through his bandages.

"Jo's not exactly the most demure person either," Jake said and watched as Jessie came upstairs with a decidedly cowed manner and blood on her nose. "She's got quite the dominant streak in her too."

"And _please_ be careful about saying that with her around," Beverly pointed out, watching as Jessie pulled herself strait and confident looking as soon as she spotted her siblings. "That's still an exceedingly touchy subject."

"Yeah, well, so am I right now," Taggart muttered as he went to the first aid station and began to tend to his wounds a little better than he could when he still had an unruly and painful fifty pound pup he still had to pull quills out of.

Jessie licked at her nose as she could, obviously in no better mood than Taggart was when Terra came over to investigate and got snapped at for it. Mina wasn't far behind and snapped back, puppy-growling until Jessie let her lick her clean.

"Interesting," Beverly mused as she watched the three females interact and the level of complexity already displayed in their social structure.

"Mina's the medic," Chance chuckled.

"When it comes to medical situations, a green medic still outranks the captain of a ship," Jake explained to several confused looks. "Mina has control sometimes, even if Jessie's the Alpha."

"Whether Jessie likes it or not," Marie chuckled slightly as Jessie laid down and let her sister take care of her, growling at Terra and Zack both if they came too close.

"Wouldn't be much of an Alpha if she did," Chance chuckled. "Mina'd take over." The look that Jessie gave him said very plainly that, even if she couldn't totally understand, she got enough of the meaning of what he was saying to be miffed.

"She's at least fairly bright," Jake chuckled. "So what's the plan for these guys?"

"First thing is to get them housetrained and see just how well they learn while they grow up," Taggart said, bandaging his hand. "And how well they learn to steer clear of my holding pens."

"And how well Jo handles living in the same building as them?" Beverly asked.

"She's okay with it for now," he pointed out. "But yeah, it'll be a factor."

"If necessary, I should be able to take them over at my place ... won't be the first time I've raised children," Jean chuckled. "But it would probably be best if they can stay here, for several reasons."

"Agreed, but not at the price of Jo's stability," Beverly said very seriously.

"I wouldn't risk that," Taggart glared at her. "We will work this out for the best."

"Understood," she nodded. "I just know that there's strong feelings on both sides there."

"Believe me, I know," Taggart nodded. "But there's no way around that."

"How long before we'll be able to take them to the lab to get samples and scans?" Jean asked, hoping to shift off the subject of their mother.

"Probably a couple weeks yet ... I want to let them settle," Taggart said easily.

"They will likely be weaned by then?" Marie asked.

"Should be. They'd be plenty old enough to be," Taggart nodded.

"Should be. They'd be plenty old enough to be," Taggart nodded. "Already eating more meat than milk."

"And the occasional treat," Jean chuckled as Terra scarfed down a cracker Chance had slipped her before Jessie could object to not getting one for herself first.

"Hey, what good are pups if you can't spoil them a bit?" the tabby chuckled sheepishly.

"I'm sure you'll be a popular visitor," Marie giggled. "Unlike those who poke and prod them."

"We all have our jobs to do," Chance winked at her. "Mine is spoiling the pups."

"Just remember to spoil them carefully," Jean chuckled. "Jessie could get in a mood if she's ignored, and Zack won't stand up for himself if he is."

"I have siblings, I know the rules," Chance smiled reassuringly at him.

"All right," Jean nodded. "Beverly, is there anything more you have to take care of here?" He asked her.

"I think I have a good basic understanding of their personalities," she nodded to him. "I will be by in a couple days to spend more time with each one on one," she told Taggart. "Do call me if something changes."

"Will do," he nodded. 

"By the way," Beverly added as she reached down to give Mina a parting scratch, "any luck finding Miss Crezic yet?"

"Not a trace of her," Taggart admitted. "But given we found a chunk of Fey forest in her bedroom, I can't say I'm surprised."

"No ... I just hope that whatever's happened she doesn't get too far away," Beverly sighed. "Her cousins are worried, but at least we know she didn't just run off. Well, good luck. Dr. Moreau, you want a ride back to GD yet?"

"Thank you," he nodded, standing to head out with her. "I'll be back to check on the pups another time."

"Anytime, just call first," Taggart told him, pleased to see that Jake had coaxed Zack out and was taking advantage of having Jessie and Terra distracted by others to pay some serious attention to the boy.

"I wi- Well, it seems you have some more visitors," Jean chuckled, looking out the door. "Ress and Lojack are at the door."

"What?" Taggart looked up in disbelief.

"They might be able to tell us a lot more about the pups than any of us," Marie pointed out. "At least with the guy's translators," she motioned to Jake and Chance.

"Why?" Taggart focused on her.

"They can understand the dogs, and even my fluttercat," she explained. "I thought it might be useful."

"Could've warned me before you invited those devils up here," he muttered. "Let 'em in," he sighed to Beverly and Jean. They opened the door while Mina, Jesse, and Terra already climbing the stairs laboriously to see what was interesting by the door, aside from the outside.

Jessie barked first when the shaggy gray-brown head poked inside to check out the surroundings and Jessie barked a challenged to him than he woofed an answer too and came all the way in, his daughter behind him.

Despite her curiosity about staying and watching this, Beverly left with Jean, leaving a house with only one human left in it.

Jessie barked again, clearly not thrilled by the way that Lojack wasn't playing her game, but he let out a deeper, more menacing woof and she backed down.

"Kids," he told Jake as he came down and settled down, Ress not showing quite the same decorum as she got acquainted with the four puppies.

"Aggressive, under-socialized one-month old kids," Jake snickered in reply. "They'll get up to speed soon."

"I suppose. Makes be glad I found homes for all mine though," Lojack laughed.

"Do I even want to know what he's saying?" Taggart asked.

"Probably not," Chance snickered as he teased Terra with a treat just out of reach. "I'm sure you'll get a full transcript though."

"He's just commenting on his kids and these," Jake grinned at Taggart.

"Yeah, well, let him know that I'll handle raising these four," Taggart grumbled.

"Just as well, I don't need more good hunters around here," Lojack woofed teasingly, letting Zack and Mina sniff him when the more submissive pups approached him, rewarding them with some attention of his own.

Chance burst out laughing, and Jake only just kept himself under control.

"Okay, _what_ did he just say?" Marie demanded before she thought better of it.

"Just that he was glad no one expected him to raise them," Jake snickered. "And that he hoped they learned to hunt as well as Taggart."

"Yeah, well, I've still caught him once... not my fault that was the day your AI friend shut down my cage by mistake," Taggart grumbled.

"Ress?" Lojack barked.

"Yeah?" The puppy replied, trotting in with the others, sniffing Zack curiously.

"That's what 'sore loser' means."

"Okay Dad," she barked cheerfully, shifting her focus to Mina and raising her paw playfully after they play-bowed to each other.

"So where are the pups going to be until they are house-trained?" Marie asked as the five youngsters played and Lojack joked with the Kats.

"Probably in the secondary holding area... fortunately, we were getting a start on that while they were in the den, so it shouldn't take long," Taggart said easily. "Also keep 'em out of the way, mostly, while Jo gets used to human life again."

"I'll help you finish it up while the Kats play with the dogs," Marie offered with an easy smile even as the guys burst out laughing again.

"Thanks... I think it's a good thing I don't have one of those translators, for the sake of letting him out of here in one piece."

"He's smart enough to know you can't understand him," she assured him. "If you had one, he wouldn't talk like that."

"Not sure if that's better or worse," Taggart grumbled as they headed back out, leaving Jake, Chance, and Lojack to watch the puppies.

* * *

Belinda struggled to take her mind back to the point in time where she didn't know the first thing about the world that her senses didn't tell her. She'd had two days to study the fundamentals of magical theory, the equivalent of Physics 101, and it was a struggle at best. It asked her to give up so much of what she thought she had understood.

It was a lot like trying to work through quantum physics ... without any basics in relativity or anything else. The two shared the view of the world as being ultimately malleable ... the key difference was the idea that, just by wanting it strongly enough, you could cause the changes.

That was a bit trickier to work her head around, the sort of thing that made her want to skip ahead and see if there was some sort of chapter that actually went into detail for her questions.

Unfortunately, with hand-written books like the one she was working on, indexes weren't exactly the most complete, and she didn't yet know enough to ask the right questions of the right people.

"Belinda," Lyri's musical voice brought her head up. She didn't even realize she was rubbing her temple until she saw his expression changed from the bearer of good news to concerned.

"Sorry," she blushed slightly, setting the book down after marking the page she was on. "I've been trying to muddle through basic magical theory... it's something else."

"It is not a simple thing," he agreed. "Mother's sages have discovered why you could not enter your world. Whatever twist of reality brought you here, brought you back in time. Your world will not allow you to return until you have caught up with yourself."

"You mean I'm in the past?" Belinda asked, cocking her head slightly. "So I'll probably be able to get back before I've been gone very long after all?"

"Yes, and perhaps," he nodded and sat down next to her. "It depends on when after your disappearance a portal opens. It could still be a few years off."

"Better than a hundred," she pointed out, leaning against him lightly. "Any idea how far back I am?"

"Five days worth."

"So I can relax for a few days before I start trying to camp out in the portal room," she chuckled slightly. "Once I get home, it doesn't matter much _where_ I end up... getting back to _my_ home will be fairly simple."

"Yes," he tipped her chin up for a kiss. "And I have a few more days of your company to enjoy."

"I can live with that," she murmured, kissing him back. "Thank you, for everything."

* * *

Lurin paused outside of Jake's office, listening for a moment. A human probably wouldn't be able to hear, but his more sensitive ears could pick up the sound - and scent - of Jake and Chance inside.

He opened the door and stepped in as Chance groaned and sprayed his seed up into Jake's body.

"You really should remember to lock that door," he chuckled, doing so himself.

"And miss out on random company?" Jake grinned over his shoulder.

"Well, good to know you appreciate it," the Xanith grinned back. "So, am I a little late to join in?"

"No, but you have to wait your turn," Jake squeezed down around Chance's cock.

"And people say _I'm_ a slut," Chance teased, licking Jake's ear lightly and starting to thrust again.

"I'm a picky slut," Jake moaned deep in his chest, his own cock recovering quickly at the attention that quickly turned into powerful thrusts that nearly knocked the wind out of Jake with each impact of their hips.

Lurin leaned back against the door, using his powerful frame to block the frosted glass window in case anybody walked by as his own sheath stirred.

"Picky about who you're with, but not who watches?" He asked with a low rumble.

"Something like that," Jake panted, his grunts nearly cries of pleasure as his mate took him to show off his own virility. It was a kind of using his mate that Chance very rarely bothered with.

"Somehow, I can't help but think this isn't the reason the soundproofing on these labs is so good," Lurin chuckled, watching Chance's ass as he pounded into Jake. "You don't take the same sort of treatment?"

"Not from most toms," Chance growled lowly, the sound _mostly_ because of his focus on mating Jake.

"Mmm, let me guess, every so often you let him," Lurin rumbled in excitement. "I've seen a hint there of his strength, despite what he prefers from me."

"Sometimes," Chance grunted, groaning as he put another load of seed up under Jake's tail, biting down on his mate's scruff. He felt the thrill of the tom under him, both at the treatment, and at being watched.

"Remember that you're still at work," he chuckled slightly, pulling out after a few moments with a groan, licking Jake's neck tenderly.

"Salaried," Jake winked over his shoulder and waved his tail invitingly at Lurin. "My hours are what I make of them."

Chance backed up as the Xanith grinned and undid his pants, walking up behind Jake and sinking his shaft into his well-used tailhole, starting to thrust as he lifted Jake up above the table.

"And you love the chance of getting caught, don't you?" He purred deeply.

"Oh yeah," Jake moaned and relaxed, submitting all control of his movements to the giant impaled inside him. "You know what else too."

Chance pulled up his pants, tucking everything away as things started with Lurin just pounding into Jake's body. He had a feeling it wasn't going to stop there, being at GD or not be damned. These two had a dynamic he could all but taste, and it wasn't one he liked.

His nose caught the blood in the air, but it was his ears that told him when things had progressed to the pain. The tenor of Jake's whimpers and moans changed, more erotic, more demanding, more hungry than anything Chance could drag from him.

The impulses it brought up made him wonder just how much of his suspicions about Lurin could be chalked up to jealousy. But then, given what he knew about the night with Cindy, he wasn't wondering too hard.

Especially given what he knew about just how far Jake would let a real sadist go without a single complaint. He knew, deep down, that if Melody had been a guy, there wouldn't have needed to be any drugging to do everything she did.

Now he was watching someone who unsettled him even more than she did begin to work his partner over in the same way. As often as he knew Jake did this, it felt terribly wrong to let this continue.

All the same... Lurin was following the rules that Chance had privately decided to enforce for Jake in a situation like this. Wasn't doing anything that would hurt him too badly. Wasn't doing anything that would be likely to be noticed right away. Jake's clothes were fine, and while Lurin was drawing blood he was careful not to do so too obviously.

Chance had to wonder though... was Lurin holding back because he wanted to, or because he knew that he'd tear his tail off if he went too far?

He couldn't help but suspect it was the later. He knew it wasn't for Jake's sake, or by Jake's request.

Chance shuddered at the deep roar Lurin let out as he came, and watched Jake move like stiff rag doll through each thrust until it was over. Then Chance closed his fist and kept a very sharp eye on the way Lurin's claws drew tiny rivulets of blood from Jake's rubbery cock-barbs until Jake cried out with an orgasm as intense as any Chance could remember Jake having, except for when Melody was torturing him.

His ears flicked back as he watched the two of them keep going, occasionally glancing at the door to make sure nobody _was_ looking too closely. He would've considered leaving, but he wasn't about to leave Jake alone with Lurin like this. Not in the mood Jake was in.

He couldn't completely hide his relief when Lurin finally pulled out, his copious seed pouring down Jake's legs as the cinnamon tom all but collapsed forward to rest his chest on the table he'd propped himself against for his mate.

"You are something special," Lurin whispered in Jake's ear as he reached over to Jake's desk and grabbed a rag from a drawer to clean the blood and seed from himself.

"Yeah, he is," Chance said softly as Lurin finished cleaning up enough to head out and left the room.

"You gonna be okay?" He asked Jake, starting to clean him up properly.

"Oh yeah," Jake purred deeply and spread his legs in an open invitation to Chance for anything he wanted, be it cleanup or to claim him again.

"Just cleaning you up for now," Chance chuckled, kissing Jake's cheek lightly. "You _are_ at work, even if you are salaried... so you're feeling better about Lurin now?"

"Not really, he's just cruddy good at giving me what I like," he moaned in a mixture of pleasure and fresh pain when Chance carefully cleaned his bloody cock with antiseptic.

"Y'know, we _could_ call on that sadist of Bev's from San Fran a bit more often," Chance offered. "I know I'd feel better about it," he admitted, working on cleaning Jake's ass up a bit.

"I know," Jake signed, clearing having had this debate with himself more than once already. "Thing is ... Lurin just _knows_ ... knows this, really honestly gets off on it. He's already showed me things I'd never done, never thought of doing."

"It wasn't always like this," Chance told him softly. "Not so often, or so ... intense."

"I know," Jake sighed. "I'm sorry," he glanced over his shoulder and down a bit to his mate. "I know you try, I've tried, but it only works for so long when there's ...." he closed his eyes briefly. "I never thought I'd be the one having problems with retirement like this."

"Being Razor scratched the itch for you?" Chance asked, raising an eyebrow dubiously before he got it. "You mean when there's nothing to keep you from doing it. When you don't have to avoid it."

"Yeah," he nodded slightly. "Back home I'd have enough choice, I knew enough people, to have somebody trustworthy. Here ... Lurin's it. Humans don't even begin to understand the way he does, the way anybody who really understands Kats does."

Chance sighed and shifted to hug Jake tightly.

"Wish there was a way around that," he murmured, his nose just above Jake's shoulder. "I don't like trusting you to somebody I can't _trust_."

"Believe me," he pressed back against his mate's broad chest. "I'm not too keen on it either. It's just not ... scary enough to give up yet."

"Hope it never is," Chance murmured sincerely, nuzzling Jake's neck. "Worst part of it is...." He sighed, hugging Jake tight. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I'd feel a lot better if I knew you'd be able to kick his tail if he went too far some time. I think you could take him, but given what's involved before he'd go too far...."

"Chance, love, it doesn't matter if I could kick his tail normally. Once it goes too far, I couldn't fight off anyone," Jake said, personally at peace with the danger of his desires.

"You're not helping," Chance grumbled. "Wish I had an idea just what happened between him and Cindy ... be better than worrying about being the only reason he didn't do worse to you."

"I don't invite him to," Jake said simply. "I set the rules up front, I get agreement up front. Unlike Cindy, I know the rules he plays by. They're the same rules I do. He's not a great choice, but until he decides he's ready to face the consequences of killing me, he won't push it past my boundaries."

"Don't let Marie hear you talking like that," Chance chuckled slightly, kissing his neck. "I should probably let you get back to work ... seeya tonight?"

"All right," he turned and kissed his mate lightly.

* * *

Jack Carter winced to himself as he pulled into Fargo's driveway well outside of town. He could already hear Fargo's whiny voice driven to hysterics by something, and the curt sounds Jo made in an effort to shut him up before she resorted to bodily harm. He was honestly a bit surprised that Fargo was still capable of talking given she had probably been listening to him for at least ten minutes already.

"Okay, what's going on out here?" He asked as he hopped out of the car. "More trouble with Seth?"

"No, for once," Fargo said with a frown. "Something's been stealing supplies from me!"

"What kind of supplies?" Carter asked patiently. "Specifics."

"Tools, sheet metal... my backup micro-reactor, that's going to be the most irritating to replace."

"Your...."

"Like the one in S.A.R.A.H.," Fargo pointed out. "While I was at work, something detached it and moved it out of my house!"

"So who would that be valuable to, that couldn't get one an easier way?" Carter asked as he spotted Taggart drive up and cast a questioning glance at Jo.

"I don't know, anybody who wanted an untraceable nuclear reactor without it being on the books?" Fargo scoffed. "Just about anybody... but it's probably somebody with weird... things. Saw one of the little creeps making off with my toolbox."

"Small, winged, and pink," Jo explained briefly. "I thought it might be connected to the other incidents, so I called you and Taggart about it."

"Right," Carter groaned, dreading more Fey activity. "What about the other materials? They don't sound like anything all that useful."

"Kats are coming," Jo commented out of nowhere.

"Engines," Taggart explained briefly as he joined the discussion.

"Right ... not going to ask how you can hear them from here," Carter said, shaking his head. "Fargo?"

"I don't know," he shrugged slightly. "I mean... four panels of sheet titanium shouldn't be enough to do anything useful with, and that's all they grabbed. Think the idea was to try and take just enough I wouldn't notice."

"Could be trying to build a shelter," Taggart mused. "And want some power handy for whatever reason. Can't discount the possibility of them being intelligent."

"How tall were they, how human-like?" Carter began the stranger questions involved in these cases. "Could you create an image of one?"

"Might just be packrat types too," Taggart mused to himself. "Stealing for the sake of it. It's a common trait among many types of known Fey."

"Pink... maybe two feet tall... looked kinda like scrawny dragons or gargoyles. I could probably make an image, but I only saw it from behind really well."

"I'll get the laptop out," Jo offered, heading for her car as the engines of Jake and Chance's cyclotrons approached from the distance, audible even to Carter now. Just on instinct for having to repeat less to the pair, everyone paused their action until the two red and black bikes pulled up and the Kats, dressed in riding leathers, got off.

"Fey-type critters are stealing things," Carter shrugged, knowing that was more than enough to get the pair interested. "Everything from sheet metal to a portable nuclear generator."

"Okay, how many of these portable nuclear generators are around here?" Chance asked, shaking his head.

"Four, two of them supporting Global HQ and Security," Fargo said easily. "If there are more, I don't know about them."

"That means there are at least two more," Carter sighed. "Okay, try to find what we're looking for?" he said as Jo brought the laptop over.

"Where are the prints?" Taggart asked his lover.

"Over there," she motioned towards the back of the house.

As Taggart went over to look at them, Chance followed, more interested in something he could look at directly than at the computer-sketch session that Jake was going to watch. When he saw the clawed tracks, he felt his heart skip a beat.

"Jake!" Chance bellowed, startling Taggart enough that he actually jerked back from the tracks he was inspecting. "Need a second opinion here!"

"Coming!" his partner call back, already at an audible run and skidding to a stop just behind the pair. "Ah _crud_ ," he hissed under his breath. "No. They aren't from here."

"What is it?" Taggart asked, looking up at Chance and Jake.

"Creeplings, or at least that's what we called 'em... unless the tracks are just wrong. I mean... fairy world, right? Could be all sorts of things with feet like that...."

"Stealing high tech supplies?" Jake pointed out quietly. "We never did learn where Dark Krud got'm from, except it wasn't native to Aristal."

"Damned logic," Chance muttered, then his expression turned _very_ scarred. "You don't think that maybe ...."

"If he was, do you think he'd have let me live?" Jake looked at his partner seriously. 

"What are Creeplings, and what do they have to do with Aristal?" Taggart asked them seriously.

"Little imps that worked for Dark Kat, the biggest Omega in the city... Hell, probably biggest on Aristal," Chance supplied.

"Imps, that's a good word for them!" Fargo called out. "No tails though."

"Wonderful," Chance sighed as they headed back towards the front to where Jo, Fargo and Carter were.

"Jo, bring up that picture of a Creepling for him. It's under Aristal animals," Jake called towards her.

"Yeah, that's it," Fargo said after a moment. "At least... I think that's it."

"Okay, so three explanations for this. Either Dark Kat came through, they're from the Fairy World originally, or somebody around here managed to find and summon some by mistake. I _really_ hope we're looking at a mistake."

"Probably are, in Eureka," Taggart pointed out. "From what you've said, if this Dark Kat fella had come through, we'd know by now."

"Most likely," Chance admitted, though he was still openly uneasy. "He's not much for being quiet for long."

"Or unobtrusive if he came by technology," Jake added.

"So odds are you've probably just figured out where they came from," Taggart offered. "Might be handy if you ever do get back home."

"Yeah ... now we've just got to figure out where they are. How many of them were hauling the reactor, and were they walking, or flying?" Chance asked Fargo.

"Four, flying," Fargo answered. "One arm holding it, the other flapping. It shouldn't be possible."

"Fey shouldn't be possible," Jake reminded him dryly. "It doesn't make them or magic any less real."

"Sounds about right for their strength too," Chance murmured. "Okay, how much _damage_ could they do with one of those mini-reactors, if they didn't know what they were doing and opened it up?"

"It's a nuclear reactor," Fargo glared at him like he was stupid.

"Eureka won't exist anymore," Jake translated. "At least not much of it."

"Well, I didn't know what sort of protection these things had," Chance pointed out. "Besides, it'd probably be worse if they _did_ know what they were doing with it. You remember the Black Widow, right?"

"Oh yeah," Jake shuddered. "Okay, so does the reactor at least have a tracking device imbedded in it?"

"Yes, it does," Taggart nodded. "All fissile material around here does... ounce of prevention and all that. Should be able to bring it up on my laptop...." He headed off towards his truck, getting the computer.

"Y'know, I don't think even MKC had to lojack their nuclear plants," Chance observed dryly.

"The small ones were, in some way or another," Jake had a teasing gleam in his eyes. "Not that any of us tended to let out how."

"Best policy, really," Taggart nodded. "Fargo?"

"Seven-alpha-two-beta," the younger scientist rattled off easily. "I try to remember the tracking numbers for things like this," he explained to Chance and Carter. "This'd be a lousy time to be searching for an instruction manual."

"Well, start searching," Taggart said after a few moments. "Because that tag gave me a blip before going out."

"Where was the blip?" Jake asked even as he and Chance turned towards their bikes.

"That way; you'll want to follow me, the woods aren't good to bikes that way," Taggart said, starting up his truck. "Sheriff, we'll call you if we find anything!"

"Cyclotrons aren't normal bikes," Jake countered as their engines roared to life.

"It's going to be a long day," Carter signed with a shake of his head and turned towards his jeep.

"Sheriff, you might want to take the short way into town," Jo called to him. "Zoe should be at Vincent's any minute."

"Thanks Jo," he said, climbing back into the cruiser and starting it. "Didn't take you long to get back up to speed," he chuckled before pulling out, heading in to meet his daughter.


	24. Building a Legacy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While the puppies continue to hone their skills at movement, the felines trade stories of their youth and Taggart heads off on the hunt of a lifetime.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written with Karl Wolfemann

"Mine!" Terra howled her claim to her siblings and tore off after a highly maneuverable insect that had found it's way into their playroom. The natural luster of her laired brown, gray and rust colored fur nearly glowed as she passed through beams of sunlight from the high windows.

"Mine!" Jessie challenged her playfully and angled for an intercept of the small, swiftly moving object.

Just as Terra was about to grab its long, stiff tail, the dragonfly abruptly shot up - and Jessie and Terra bowled into each other, rolling across the floor in a tangle of limbs and yelps.

"Sillies," Mina yawned, standing up and walking over to see if they were both okay.

"Prey," Jessie countered. "Hunt. Like Mom."

"It's a bug," Mina pointed out. "Okay?" She looked at her sisters, then up at the dragonfly that was flying back towards the window it had entered through. "Too small," she whined, though she still went over to the door and tried to climb up, wondering if she might be able to get them out.

They got walked regularly now that they _could_ walk, but it was still more fun to go out on their own. Maybe Lojack and Rass would come by soon to play with them outside. They both knew how to get the door to open.

"Steps," Terra barked sharply and scrambled for the door. "Intruder! Intruder!" she continued to bark, her tone getting more serious when Jessie joined her in warning the human off.

"It's Taggart," Mina pointed out with a sniff at the air through the window, rolling her eyes as she walked over to greet the human. Maybe he wasn't that much fun, but barking at the door wouldn't get anything they wanted either. He was not the type to be warned off his own den.

"Taggart's slow," Jessie huffed, even though she backed off and stopped barking as Taggart opened the door.

"Still Taggart," Mina pointed out.

"Yes, I am," Taggart said as he stepped in and closed the door, privately satisfied at the shocked looks all three puppies were giving him. "Where's Zack?"

"Zack here, Taggart," the submissive male answered him from a spot well away from the open areas, but also in a warm patch of sunlight. The multi-tone brown pup, still smaller than any of his sisters, was still the size of a small St. Bernard. "Play?" he wagged his tail and play-bowed hopefully.

Jessie and Terra both huffed irritably. Taggart looked between them; getting the translator had been a good idea, it seemed ... it would certainly be easier to communicate with them.

"I think we can play some... how well are you four talking?"

"Good," Jessie asserted forcefully. "We learn fast."

"Let's prove it then. Get your harnesses and let's go out for today's lesson."

Jessie and Terra hesitated, not liking the way they'd been 'tricked' into the lessons. It only lasted a moment before they padded towards the back of the building-sized room to fetch the harnesses that Taggart usually got.

This was the only time that Zack was first in line, and allowed to stay there.

As they came back, Zack cheerfully trailing his leash behind him, the harness already around his head, Taggart knelt to settle and fastened them correctly.

"Today's shouldn't be too hard for you four; you're just going to have to figure out how to do what I tell you to this time," he told them, an irritable look still on Jessie's face. "If you want hints, you'll have to ask for them."

"How Taggart know us now?" Jessie demanded as he checked her harness.

"How do I understand you? I got a translator today that helps me know just what you're actually saying, instead of just what it sounds like. English won't really work for you, in four-legged forms."

He caught the way the four of them exchanged looks, then focused on him very carefully, searching for the object that allowed him to listen in on their previously private conversations.

"We stand up. Be like Jo soon," Mina told him. "Use People-talk then."

"That's good to hear; I'd been hoping you'd be able to shift soon," he said easily, even though he was sure they had no better idea of when that would happen than anyone else. "But I'll still listen in on you when you're talking like this... at least while I'm around. You're just going to have to be more careful to keep secrets," he winked.

"We remember," Jessie told him with a grim determination that was completely ill-suited to her youth.

"You know, I'm not an enemy," he pointed out. "So, want to head out?"

"Jessie Alpha," Mina said evenly. "Everyone enemy to Alpha."

"Yes, we head out," Zack yipped excitedly.

"You're not Alpha to everybody," Taggart pointed out to Jessie, taking their leashes. "Everybody get lined up, then we'll go."

Zack got in place eagerly, his tail wagging and a grin on his muzzle. Mina wasn't far behind, and while he could read the annoyance in Jessie and Terra's body language, they complied quickly.

No matter what was grumbled, Jessie really did like these outings. She just wanted them on her own terms, something that Taggart didn't let her even pretend was the case.

Once they were all ready to go, Taggart opened the door, stepping out as they followed, noses high, sniffing the air around them as he started leading them off towards the forest.

"This is going to be a bit different from your usual training," he told them. "You've been picking things up pretty well, so I'm going to try something more complex today."

There were general sounds of interest, even though they were mostly paying attention to their environment. He really should build them a large outside enclosure to play in as well.

"I have hidden five objects within a square mile of the starting point. While you will be able to find each by yourself easily enough, you will have to cooperate to retrieve each item, and will likely have to cooperate to figure out how to retrieve each item," he explained as they walked.

"Hunt?" Terra asked with a hopeful woof, wagging her tail at the idea.

"You'll have to find the items, yes; they're five of your toys, so you know what you're looking for, but they're not all necessarily in natural places."

"Easy hunt," Jessie woofed, now openly excited at an easy training time and getting to the playtime soon.

"We'll see about that," Taggart chuckled as they reached the starting point. "So, I'll let you four go; come back if you need a hint, if you get one of the toys, or if you need some help with something. If you get into trouble, howl for me."

"Yes," Zach agreed immediately, soon to be followed by the others.

With a nod Taggart unsnapped their leashes and watched as Jessie and Terra immediately went to work with their noses, seeking their toys. Zack and Mina were also hunting together. All in all, it was the usual start to their hunts and easily the most egalitarian the group got; it didn't matter who caught the scent, they got praise and positive attention for it.

Quickly, the two groups took off in opposite directions. Taggart chuckled slightly; it would be interesting to see how they handled these ... especially if they found the ones that couldn't be handled by just two of them.

Taggart took out a portable view screen tracking system that Dr. Orwell had created for him in this training space. While it would display the tracking beacons from the rice-sized devices he had injected between their shoulder blades, it was really for displaying the view from various cameras she had installed about the training property.

Meanwhile, Jessie and Terra were making progress towards their goal.

"Blue ball?" Terra asked her sister curiously, trying to place just what it was they were after. It smelled about right ... hard to tell though, the rubber smell tended to block out the smells that indicated which particular one it was.

"Yes," Jessie agreed, though it wasn't full of confidence until she spotted it. "In box," she nosed at the clear case surrounding their toy.

"Lid?" Terra suggested, moving around it, pawing at the box that seemed to be fastened to the ground.

"No lid," Jessie grumbled as she pawed it herself, and resorted to trying brute force to move the box, then chewed at it while Terra watched and began to look around.

She saw the ill-concealed line linked to the bottom of the box and followed it cautiously.

"Jessie!" She barked, following the line and nosing it carefully, making sure it wasn't going to shock her. "Tied on."

Jessie looked up, her black fur blending in as much as the gray blaze and star on her chest stood out. Without a sound she joined her sister in investigating where this attachment went and how it tied in to the box with their toy.

After a few moments of tracking it, Terra found a larger button. She pressed her foot down on it, and heard a click.

"Got it!" She yipped, turning to bolt back to the box - hearing the click of it closing as she lifted her foot. "Oops."

"Step on it," Jessie ordered. "Stay."

Terra did as she was told, whining in frustration, pretty sure that Jessie was going to go get the ball.

And she'd been the one who'd found the button. Oh well... maybe she'd be able to get the next one. She heard the box click open and Jessie's jaws close around the squeaky ball.

She lifted her foot when Jessie was clear of the box with their toy and lifted her nose in a howl of victory. The hunt was successful.

"Back to Taggart?" Terra asked, loping over to her sister, tail wagging excitedly. "One more first?"

"One more," Jessie grinned at her and bounce-threw the ball for her sister to chase and catch. "I hear a Taggart bird."

Terra nabbed the ball and chased after Jessie, tail wagging the whole time at the prospect of the treats they'd get from the device when they found it. Taggart always put really special yummies inside it.

They bounced the ball back and fourth, chasing after it as needed, while they followed their ears to the chirping mechanical bird perched high in a tree.

Terra got to the tree first and barked a welcome to the bird, which chirped back, then went into a fairly complex song instead of the simple 'find me' chirping it had done so far.

Jessie put the ball down and focused on the pattern and meaning of what the bird was 'saying' and what they had to say in reply.

"Doesn't work," Terra growled.

Jessie gave it a try, her howls and barks answering correctly, she was sure of it. She flattened her ears in agreement and let out a sharp, drawn-out howl to call Taggart to them.

"He fix," Jessie said and grabbed the ball to throw it, intent on having fun while they waited.

The two pups played catch while they waited for Taggart to get there, Terra trying to think of what was going on while she could.

"Maybe got wet?" She offered, catching the ball and tossing it back.

"Or hunted," Jessie offered, thinking of the large birds that hunted small birds. "Makes noise a lot."

"Doesn't look hurt. Could be," Terra mused, looking up as she caught a new scent. "Taggart's coming!"

Jessie raised her voice in greeting, creating a tow-voiced cacophony for him to home in on.

"Bird broke," Jessie told him, wagging her tail in greeting.

"It did, did it?" Taggart asked, moving up to the "bird." It wasn't a bad word for it - he'd programmed them to move around, and to test their pattern recognition. He waited for it to cycle through again, then chuckled.

"Listen closer," he instructed them. "It's working fine."

"Can't be," Terra said confidently. "Doesn't work. Too much to do."

"We got too good," Jessie stated confidently and focused on listening to the bird again. "We both have to answer parts."

"That _is_ the lesson today," Taggart chuckled. "I'll see you back at the meeting point then," he said, turning around to head off while Jessie and Terra picked up their points and started figuring out how to harmonize them properly.

He wanted to get back in time to really watch Mina and Zack work out the pit trap they had found. He knew they had seen the concept, he'd made sure of it, but how well they made the transition between seeing it and putting it to use was another matter.

At the pit in question, Mina and Zach were circling around it. They could see the rope-tug at the bottom, along with a few other things... but they knew it was too deep to just jump out of, with the space that was in it.

"I'll get it," Zach volunteered after a few moments, jumping down to toss it up and out. With the job done, he looked around the bottom, trying to find something to get out with. There was another piece of rope... a couple handles....

He picked up the rope, gnawing on it while he thought. Handles wouldn't be too much good down here.

"Toss it up," Mina called down to him. "Climb it. I hold."

He looked up at her, then put it together.

"Right!" He barked, tossing the rope up. It took a few tries, but eventually Mina caught it, moving back and holding it firm.

If she managed to slip in, they'd _need_ Taggart... though they both thought they'd rather spend the night out than have to admit it to Jessie and Terra.

Mina grunted and dug her thick claws into the earth hard, backing up against his weight as soon as she realized just how heavy her brother was. She knew she could hold on to the rope long enough. What she didn't know was whether she could hold to the ground long enough.

His claws were _just_ breaking the edge of the pit when she had to give up, letting it go before she was pulled in after him.

"Ouch!" He yelped as he hit the bottom.

"Sorry!" She yipped apologetically as he tried to collect himself.

"It's okay ... gonna try something." He tossed the rope up to her, giving her a moment to brace herself, then jumped, catching onto the edge and starting to scramble up as well as fast he could while Mina backed up to pull out the slack. This time, he managed to get up, grinning, covered in dirt and mud as he looked at her.

"Did it!" He howled happily.

She grinned back and joined his victory howl before modulating her voice to convey what they had found and where.

"Take to Taggart?" Zack asked before he picked up the rope toy and waved it at her, inviting her to play tug-o-war.

She grinned and hurried up, grabbed it and started to run back with him, the two of them tugging back and forth as they went.

"Good fetch," Taggart greeted the pair with a look of pride and honest praise. "That was a tricky one."

Zach woofed happily, wagging his tail as Taggart reached down to scratch him between the ears.

"Nicer than Jessie," the younger pup rurred, pressing into Taggart's hand and enjoying the fact that Mina was quite content with the one hand she was getting attention from.

"Are you ready to go look for the next toy?" Taggart asked without stopping petting them. "There are three left."

"Yep!" Mina yipped enthusiastically, stepping off and sniffing the air.

* * *

About an hour later, the pups had finished finding all five toys, and were in the midst of enjoying them during the playtime that always followed their training sessions. Jessie was still giving him dirty looks for greasing the tree the last toy had been in; they'd ended up having to climb up on top of each other to make a stairway, and Mina had managed to work things around so that _she_ was the one who'd ended up on top rather than Jessie.

Which, as sisters were prone to do, she was teasing Jessie about every chance she had, and would probably continue to until Jessie decided she was tired enough of it to put her in her place. Taggart doubted it would take more than another hour, if that. Jessie tended to rule with an iron paw, not too different from her mother in many ways.

His head snapped up at the sound of an engine turning over, and he broke into a run as he realized it was _his_ truck turning on.

Who the Hell would try to steal _his_ truck? Even the kids in Eureka tended to give it a wide berth... it came from being willing to use a tranquilizer rifle to defend it, he supposed.

"Hey!" He shouted as he saw the taillights coming on.

A fairly large, raggedy dog jumped out of the front and looked at him, openly startled. Before he could even react, it jumped back into the cab, then out again with something in her mouth, he realized as he IDed Ress.

"Now what have you got," he muttered, breaking into a run towards the truck again as he realized she'd probably grabbed the keys... how the Hell had she managed to start the car?

He reached into the bed of the truck, and realized that his rifle wasn't there. 

"Not today," Lojack woofed from the edge of the woods, the gun at his feet, a canine grin plastered across his face.

"All right you devils, what are the two of you up to?" He growled, taking off after Ress as she barked graphically insulting taunts and waved the keys in the air, taking off into the trees.

He didn't have time to think about how much he didn't want to understand those two, not ever, and especially not in English, as he reached the tree she'd disappeared behind just in time to see her double back towards the truck.

He took out the translator, pocketing it as he turned to run back after her. Easier to catch her if he could focus on the little bitch.

She jumped back up into the bed of the truck, and he followed her. She ducked into his open carrying cage, and he knelt down to follow her.

"Not that smart after all, are you?" He grumbled, crawling in after her. "Now give me the keys, and you can just go home this time...."

She woofed at him, a smart-aleck look on her face before she somehow squirmed under him and slicked by to the door.

"Why you ...." he growled at her and lunged into the turn just in time to have the cage door slam closed in his face and the automatic locks click closed.

Ress and Lojack both howled triumphantly as they bounded up to the truck, climbing around the front. The truck started as the four pups finally came out to see what was going on... and were left behind as the truck pulled out and towards town. They tried to keep up, but it was hopeless. Even their mother would have been extremely hard pressed to manage the pace.

* * *

A few minutes later, in downtown Eureka, Carter and Jo were enjoying a reasonably quiet day... when they heard the sound of Taggart's horn blaring.

"What the Hell's wrong with him now?" Carter asked with a groan.

"He should still be training the pups," Jo frowned and stood to check it out, Carter right behind her.

"Is that... a dog driving?" Carter asked dubiously as they saw the truck lazily ambling down the street now that it was in a safe place to do so.

"Not a dog, Lojack." Jo informed him stiffly, though he couldn't be sure whether it was from indignity for her boyfriend or trying to hold back the laughter he was desperate to keep contained. "And yours as well; somebody has to be working the pedals."

"Has this happened before?" Carter asked, deciding that this would qualify the canine for the title of 'the devil' that Taggart insisted he was. Ress ... he'd just have to deal with her later. How, he wasn't sure, but he'd need to if he wanted to survive his deputy and animal control.

"This? No," Jo said easily. "On the other hand, I'm not honestly sure if this tops the Marshmallow Incident or not."

"Do I even want to know?" Carter sighed as the truck drove past them slowly, and he saw a rather broken-looking Taggart curled up in the back as if by hiding his face he could hide his identity from the onlookers.

"Probably not, no. Come on, I think it's time to stop the show," Jo said, jogging out towards the car, which was moving slowly enough she didn't need to worry about driving to catch up.

It obediently slowed down a bit more, and the two canines woofed playfully at her before they jumped out the passenger side and trotted off, leaving her to deal with the truck and it's prisoner.

She climbed into the back end after grabbing Taggart's keys, undoing the lock and opening the cage as Carter did his best to disperse the crowd.

"You okay?" She asked him.

"How can I be okay?" he nearly hissed, his entire body shaking as he struggled to control the humiliation enough to have this conversation. "You _saw_ what they did to me!"

" _Physically_ okay then," she growled lowly. "That wasn't really sized for people."

"Yes, yes physically okay," he nodded, responding quickly to her dominance and subtle threat.

"Can you get yourself back home, and where are the pups?" Jo asked, trying to keep him focused on what needed to be thought about. There would be plenty of time to mentally collapse later.

"Yes, and in the training area," he hesitated as he realized they could be anywhere by now, and saw just how serious Jo took it in her eyes. "They all have trackers in them," he reminded her. "Training went well."

"You get in the truck, I'll take my cruiser," Jo told him and turned around to quickly explain the situation and what she was doing to the sheriff.

"Go ahead," Carter told her before she'd even finished. "I can handle things here for a few hours... go get things straightened out."

* * *

Chance roared as he pumped his third load of seed deep into Jake's ass later that night. He leaned against his mate with a low groan, the two of them finally spent for a while after getting home from a day at work - Jake in the lab, and Chance running more tests of the production model TurboKat.

"You hear about Taggart earlier?" Chance asked with a low purr a few minutes later, the two of them relaxing in the hot tub they'd just been mating in.

"Mmm, yeah," Jake relaxed in his embrace and quite happily leaned forward to bury his nose against Chance's shoulder.

"Wonder if anybody took pictures," Chance chuckled slightly. "So, how's it going with Lurin lately?"

"Probably everybody," Jake snickered. "I'm enjoying it," he kept his answer as devoid of details as possible. He really wanted to avoid getting grilled too hard over what they were doing with Eureka's full healing technology at their disposal.

He had a feeling that Chance would probably take it _almost_ as poorly as he was sure Marie would.

"And probably more than either of us want to know you are," Chance guessed from the vague answer. "I've been thinking about him, lately... about the timing between when he showed up and things started getting screwy too."

"I know," Jake signed into Chance's thick golden fur. "I have too, a lot. The only sticking point, really, is that if he _is_ Dark Kat, why am I still alive? Lurin barely asks me to explain anything, and nothing SWAT, too. I can't see Dark Krud being that self-controlled."

"I thought about that too," Chance nodded. "What if he _isn't_ Dark Kat though... just being followed by him? It'd make sense, really. Explain why the designer was taking the jet up too, if he was trying to get away or save it from being stolen. Dark Krud could've followed him through with something stealthed, and managed to hide before anybody knew to look for him."

"Wouldn't be the first time," Jake murmured and went to work chewing on this idea. "If he did, what can we do about it before he shows himself? We've never been able to find him before."

"Well... he's gotta be based somewhere," Chance pointed out. "Maybe Taggart and Jo know some way to tap into the surveillance in the sewers? Seems like the best place for him."

"If they don't, Cindy would," Jake nipped his ear teasingly. "Wouldn't be a bad idea. Maybe start a serious effort to trace all the energy draws that aren't sanctioned too. Whatever he does, he'll need power."

"His Creeplings stole a mini-nuclear reactor, remember?" Chance grumbled, realizing just why they'd probably done it now. "Damn it, he knew we'd catch onto him...."

"I still don't understand why he hasn't killed us," Jake murmured. "We're easy targets here; out in the open and obvious."

"Maybe he doesn't want to expose himself yet," Chance mused. "Either way, means we've got a chance to find him before he does something big this time. Never really had time back home."

"True," Jake mused. "Taggart and Jo will be invaluable, given their knowledge of the more remote spaces here. Unless he managed to get a holo-belt, he's going to be quite obvious.

"To the tune of 'couldn't hide if he wanted to,'" Chance nodded, rubbing Jake's back. "Of course... if it _is_ Lurin, he's better at hiding than we thought."

"The understatement of the century on all counts," Jake murmured and nuzzled his mate. "Have to think of a way to flush him out, especially if he is Lurin."

"Maybe we can figure out some sort of bait," Chance offered, returning the nuzzle.

"Who are we baiting and what with?" Marie asked, setting down the food she'd brought back from Vincent's by the tub.

"Dark Kat, and we aren't sure yet," Jake caught her up. "It's looking more likely than not that he's here."

"Dandy," she grumbled. "He's the one who builds massive vehicular weapons and tries to blow up cities, right?"

"He's more interested in blowing up Enforcer HQ and taking over cities," Jake said. "What's weird is that he's kept his head down this long."

"What would you guys have done if you hadn't been found right away?" Marie pointed out, stripping down and sliding into the water with a low groan. "Remind me never to volunteer for taking care of werewolf pups for an afternoon again."

"Gone to ground, hacked the hell out of various networks to find out what was going on and probably had a rather tough time of it until we got home," Jake summarized their basic game plan for trips.

"Now, think about it if you'd were a psychotic megalomaniac... he needs to stay under cover until he's got supplies."

Jake nodded slightly. "Except he's likely to be as focused on getting back to Aristal as I was at first. He's fixated on MegaKat City. There are much softer targets back home, but he hasn't gone to those."

"He'd still need to stay low, whatever he was trying to do," Marie pointed out, opening up a tray of fried peppers for the guys. "It's just a question of what he'd be trying to get for supplies... stuff for a portal back, or stuff for a weapon. Probably a lot of the same sort of thing at first."

Jake signed and took a pepper, feeding it to Chance before answering her.

"You're assuming he uses technology, or at least pure technology. Aristal has a long history of true magic. Not slight of hand like what you know today, but the real thing; fireballs, commanding dragons and time travel by will alone; that kind of thing. It's been theorized for some time that Dark Kat is the modern kind of mage. One who uses technology as a guise to affect the world with their magic."

"I suppose," she nodded, opening another tray and taking some chicken fingers from it. "But stealing that reactor ... didn't you say he usually had those Creeplings? That's why you think he's here, after all."

"Yeah," Chance nodded and took a chicken finger, dipping it in blue cheese sauce before munching on it. "So you believe in that technomage stuff?" he nuzzled Jake.

"I'm not discounting it," he admitted. "Callista thought it sounded like enchantment-type magic."

"Magic is real?" Marie stared at him. "Real, real?"

"Yes, it's very real," Jake nodded. "Running Enforcer theory is that Razor's a technomage too, though Callista said I didn't have enough talent for it."

"Hadn't heard that one," Chance admitted.

"Yes, Creeplings stole the reactor," Jake nodded. "Which means that Dark Krud is going to be that much harder to track. This world is completely unprepared for one of his creations."

"I'll make sure the TK's in good shape," Chance murmured. "At least it won't necessarily be just us against him, if we can get the production model up to snuff fast enough. Any idea how much longer it'll take?"

"The jet isn't the problem, it'll be getting enough to matter if we can't take him out this time." Jake said quietly. "It's going to be up to us and B/D."

"Yeah, well things are different here," Chance said darkly, rubbing Jake's back. "This time, we won't stop when we used to."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Marie asked him.

"Before, we stopped when he wasn't dangerous anymore. Had to, to get away from Feral. He'd try to blow something up, we'd stop the plan and hope he'd finally bought it so we could get away before Feral caught us. This time, I'm not gonna stop until I've got a body."

"There's a line that vigilantes are tolerated to," Jake elaborated. "Murder, even in stopping an Omega, is well past that line. Legally, it might be self-defense, but it would draw too much attention you don't want from both sides. We were high on the Omega's hit list too, but we've never done more than irritate them. Killing one intentionally ... we probably wouldn't last a month afterwards."

"And here, you can do it without the fallout," Marie murmured.

"Here, if we _don't_ do it, the fallout's gonna be worse," Chance said certainly. "MKC was used to Dark Kat and his type. This world isn't."

"Here we're legal defenders," Jake added. "It's part of our actual job again, to do this."

"That helps too," Chance nodded.

"And what if it _is_ Lurin?"

"I'll deal with it," Jake kind of shrugged; a move that expressed his acceptance that Fate could be cruel at times. "He's likely to be dead when we find out, if it is him."

"If not, I'll be the one pulling the trigger anyway," Chance added firmly, and for once Jake was in no mood to counter the assertion.

"I'll keep hoping it doesn't go there then," Marie murmured, having a bit more dinner. "On a related topic, word's out about Lurin, right?"

"Yes," he nodded. "And I've taught those who are interested in him anyway the way to talk to him to get what they want. There hasn't been another incident that I've heard of."

"Good," Marie nodded. "If there is, he'll be discovering all new ways to be irritated for the rest of his stay here."

"You know, I remember that phrase and tone from Academy," Chance snickered, breaking the mood. "Jake here had quite the vengeful streak back then."

"Oh dear," Marie giggled slightly. "Well, I'm _guessing_ that he didn't try a retrovirus that'd make him allergic to fur, so what sort of things did you guys get up to?"

"Sabotaged bullies cars, mysteriously got them kicked off the football team and dropped from classes they needed," Jake tried to downplay it. "All without a trace of them having been there in the first place. Computers liked me, and I'm a respectable thief when it's needed."

"Oh c'mon," Marie giggled. "There had to be more there than _just_ that?"

"He's being quiet about it," Chance smirked. "Got the _quarterback_ dropped from the team, right before homecoming - and the team actually won the game without him, so his backup took center stage."

"Lance never did recover," Jake added, openly pleased with himself. "He really needed to be taken down a few notches."

"So what did you do with a fur allergy?" Chance asked with a grin.

"Oh, nothing yet, just what I'm _going_ to do if I hear Lurin pushes the line again... _especially_ if it's with Cindy somehow," Marie shrugged a bit. "I had other ways to get back at people when I was in school," she smirked.

"Do tell," Jake grinned at her from Chance's lap. "I want to hear about your mischievous side."

"Yeah, that way we know what to watch for," Chance grinned back, nuzzling Jake's neck.

"Depended on the mood I was in, really," Marie chuckled, moving closer to snuggle as they finished eating. "Sometimes it was just simple things - leaving a giant slug in somebody's locker or something. Then there was the time I trained one of the flying monkeys to bomb a target ... nobody ever did figure out who it was that was dropping rotten fruit on people's cars."

"Except your father, I bet," Chance grinned at her. "Is that monkey still around?"

"Nah, he died a few years back," Marie shook her head. "The really fun one was a bit more involved though... Taggart almost skinned me alive for it before it was all done," she giggled.

"So what did you do?" Jake demanded with a grin and pulled her close for a lingering kiss.

"Mmm ... made a mutt who looked purebred," Marie purred. "There was a family in Eureka who raised these beautiful purebred bloodhounds. Good natured dogs, but their owners acted like genetic engineering was a cardinal sin against nature itself," she explained, rolling her eyes. "You can imagine what they thought of Dad and me. For the record, they _weren't_ biologists; they worked in quantum physics, just bred bloodhounds on the side. 

"Anyways, they kept talking about how the genetics didn't matter," she explained, "how you could _see_ a good quality breeding dog. So I made sure I'd have takers for up to a large litter of puppies, and made sure they got what _looked_ like a good quality bloodhound bitch. They moved away after weaning the pups, which didn't look a damned thing like purebred bloodhounds by the time their mother's screwed up parentage got through with them. They got reassigned just after the pups had been weaned. From what I understand, their daughter'd fallen in love with the bitch, so they had her spayed and kept her."

"And if they _hadn't_?" Chance asked, raising an eyebrow dubiously.

"I'd have taken her in, of course!" Marie chided him. "I might not have the most PETA-friendly attitude towards animals, but I had it all planned out so that every pup who'd be involved, and the mother, would have good homes... one of 'em ran away, I understand, but aside from that they're all doing pretty well, living lives as normal mutts through the country, thanks to reassignments."

"Was that one who escaped happen to be named Lojack?" Jake asked with a teasing look.

"If it was, Taggart wouldn't have bothered skinning me," Marie snickered, "I'd have quietly disappeared years ago! Nah, I don't remember her name off-hand... Juniper, Juno, something like that. Smart, but not brilliant or anything... just bloodhound-smart."

"Might be Ress' mother then, though I wouldn't tell that to Taggart," Chance winked at her. "That girl's got bloodhound in her."

"She might be," Marie nodded. "Not that I plan on bringing it up. I don't know for sure, he was just irritated with me for taking _any_ chance that our erstwhile breeders might just turn the bunch of them loose to get rid of them."

"Most breeders with any reputation to them would put damaged goods down before turning them loose," Jake shrugged. "Surprised he doesn't know that."

"I don't think he thought overly much of their being breeders with any reputation to them," Marie shrugged back. "Lord knows no decent breeder _I_ know would have paid as little attention to the written pedigree as they did, looking good or not."

"Ah," Jake nodded. "No, they probably wouldn't have."

"So, Chance," Marie grinned at him charmingly. "Your turn."

"Hoo boy," Chance laughed, shaking his head. "You interested in the general hellraising, or just the highlights that _don't_ make me sound like a refugee from a JD hall?"

"But you _are_ a refugee from JD hall," Jake twisted around to kiss him, a gleeful tone in his voice.

"We'll settle for the highlights," Marie assured him.

"Good," Chance chuckled, kissing Jake back. "Not all of it was good-natured type stuff; I was in and out for B&E a few times too. Nothing too nasty; nothing worse than a few B&E's and being an errand boy for some numbers rackets. Good thing too, or I probably wouldn't have made it past the Enforcer screening. Highlight reel... well, most of my stories involve the Broom Street crew either way. Probably my favorite ones involved teaching some of the hot shots who came around slumming to give us a bit of respect."

"This is starting to sound like something out of an urban drama," Marie chuckled slightly.

"Hey, it was sometimes," Chance shrugged. "I didn't learn to get in and out of places like Melody's house from SWAT. Anyways, since we were in one of the nicer bad neighborhoods, it wasn't too rare for guys and girls with some money to come nosing around looking for cheap dates they could feel superior to. String 'em along for a while, get what you wanted, then dump 'em and go off laughing with your friends. Lot of us would fall for it too, once or twice, because _sometimes_ it paid off and got you out of there. Well, this big Tiger made the mistake of playing that game with one of my sisters, then coming back afterwards."

"Did he survive?" Marie asked with a half-serious tone.

"Yeah," Jake nodded. "Even a sealed record isn't enough to cover up that kind of damage when you try to go Enforcer."

"That was a different case, and a different sister," Chance said seriously. "That guy didn't play by the rules; used 'nip, the strong stuff, almost got her hooked. The guy I was thinking of just found out that there can be a bad side to slumming - while he was with one of the girls from the crew, we stripped his car, hid his clothes, and we sent pictures to some of the names in his little black book... his wife was particularly irritated," Chance chuckled.

"I'd forgotten about that one," Jake laughed lightly along with Marie.

"I like your sense of poetic justice," Marie grinned at him.

"Yeah, well, we were all pretty much used to that sort of thing happening ... they just usually had the sense to steer clear of the place for a few months, not to show up a week later looking for a different date," Chance chuckled. "Really, we were doing him a favor - might've been an expensive lesson, but he lived through it. So, Jake, you have any from before the Academy for us that I haven't heard for a while?" He grinned.

"Well, there was the time I snuck a few mini-cams into the rooms of a some particularly annoying girls and distributed the results around campus," Jake blushed despite his wide grin. "That was fun."

"Oh _really_?" Marie asked, grinning back. "First off, _you_ did something like that, and second, what were the results?"

"Yes, I did. I'm quite capable of being devious and vindictive when I have reason," he tried to keep a strait face despite the grin plastered there. "Those three, and their lovers, got serious cat-calls for the rest of the year. Fair payback for picking on my friends. I wasn't even a suspect, they'd pissed off so many people capable of it."

"What he's not saying was that he was a target too," Chance nuzzled him. "He just only started to care when they hurt his friends."

"Ugh - lemme guess, 'how long do you think it'll take me to convince him I really want to go out with him so I can dump his ass'?" Marie guessed, shaking her head. "Hated it when people tried playing those games, even if I wasn't on the receiving end too much."

"Pretty good summary," Jake nodded. "So did you do any other wacky things?"

"Whose standards?" She giggled. "And did it have to be intentional? Cindy and I managed to put together a tape we called 'Junior Prom Gone Wild' back when we were in high school... that tape had enough blackmail material for years on it," she snickered. "The school had its own cameras, but Cindy decided she wanted to 'borrow' some of her dad's and put them up to watch some of the strategic makeout spots, all hooked up to timers so they'd catch the entire prom and a few hours afterwards. I think my favorite was the one out behind the bleachers, that caught one of the cheerleaders with her boyfriend... and his dog."

Jake began to snicker, and Chance just roared in laughter.

"Anyone who's still around?" Chance asked gleefully.

"Mmm... I _think_ that Lilly is working in chemistry," Marie giggled. "Have to ask Cindy to be sure though, she keeps track of those sort of things better. Last I heard, there were maybe three copies of the tape out there yet... one of them is probably buried around here somewhere," she said, nodding around the room. "Cindy's probably got another one, of course... not sure who had the third, but most of them got destroyed as the 'stars' found out about 'em."

"So, this Lilly," Chance grinned mischievously. "Does she still have a taste for furry friends?"

"I have _no_ clue," Marie snickered. "She _swears_ it was all her boyfriend's idea, but I've always figured it took two... or three, in that case."

Chance licked his whiskers back. "I think I'll have to invest the time in getting to know this girl. See if she still likes it doggy style."

"You are _such_ a brat," Jake batted his ears playfully.

"Hey, at least I'm not a _total_ pervert," Chance smirked.

"Yeah, you'd have to invite Lojack along before you hit that point," Marie snickered. "Though, somehow, I suspect you just weren't going to say that part out loud."

"I plead the fifth," Chance rumbled, leaning over to kiss her. "Mmm... so, is the sudden streak of dirty stories a hint that you'd like us to quit talking and get back to something else?"

"Well, you two _have_ gotten off more than I have tonight," she purred, returning Chance's kiss, then leaning over to give Jake a more heated one.

He slid his hand between her legs and played his fingers along the slit of her sex lightly. "There's plenty of room for you on my lap."

"Wondered how long you'd take to make the invitation," she purred, sliding up to the two toms. Chance grunting as her weight was added to Jake's on his lap, but there was no real objection to how much deeper it pushed him into his mate. 

She kissed Jake heatedly, wrapping her arms around him and shifted forward to slide his shaft up into her sex with a low moan.

"I always have loved a Jake sandwich," Chance kissed her over Jake's shoulder and began to thrust up. He grinned when Jake gasped a cry of wordless pleasure and pulled Marie hard against his chest. "Oh yeah, it's going to be good tonight."

* * *

Taggart glanced at the four puppies watching him again. He was packing carefully for a very special Gigantopithecus Americanus, or whatever variants survived in the Fairylands. They hadn't made a peep since he'd gotten out his backpack, but it wasn't hard to tell that they were all uneasy.

"Well, what's wrong?" He asked them, trying to keep the irritability he'd felt since Lojack and Ress had locked him in his own cage out of his voice.

"Taggart angry," Mina said, looking up. "You leave."

"No leave," Zack whimpered in protest.

"Not leaving for long," he promised them. "Not if I can help it. You'll be taken good care of," he promised, kneeling down and reaching out to scratch Zack between the ears. He didn't particularly want to leave them behind, but he knew that Jo would _kill_ him if he didn't.

"Jo hate us," Jessie told him bluntly.

"She doesn't hate _you_ ," he sighed. "She just... has issues with a few things. Besides, she's not going to be the one taking care of you; you'll be staying with Aunt Marie for a few days while I'm gone."

"Marie's mates too?" Terra yipped in a bit of honest excitement.

"At least some of the time," Taggart nodded. "Now, I _might_ be gone longer than I expect to be; if I am, they'll still keep an eye on you, and I will be back. Just go easy on Chien," he winked.

"Pack be good," Terra assured him. "Not hurt Chien."

"Pack stay here?" Jessie asked him.

"Unless I'm gone longer than I expect to be," he nodded. "You'll get regular visits from Aunt Marie and her mates."

"Good hunt," Jessie barked as he went back to careful packing under the watch of all four pups.

He wasn't just packing the usual supplies this time. He was making sure to be ready for where he was going; packing things that he'd found were supposed to have particular effects in the fairy realm. Some iron nails... sea salt... a number of relatively small trinkets he could probably use for trade, to get information about where he'd find his quarry. A spare shirt, one he could comfortably wear inside out, was the last touch before he zipped up his bag.

"Be good, you guys," he said, giving each of them one last scratching and found that they each wanted to lick him profusely in the process. Soft whines that didn't really translate to words other than a mixture of 'do well' and 'hurry back' with a general sense of well-wishes.

"I'll be back as soon as I can," he reassured them, shouldering his bag and making it to the door before their wish to see him not leave got the better of him despite the humiliation of everyone else talking behind his back.

There were days he truly hated humanity.

Of course, he had to admit that he hated Lojack even more right now. Hell, about half the reason he was taking his tranquilizer rifle out now was because if he didn't, it'd be the sniper rifle after that mutt. He didn't think that would go over too well with the few people who had any shred of respect left for him, Jo in particular. Her respect he couldn't stand to loose, not after everything that had happened.

The pups saw him to the front door, but politely stayed inside and didn't crowd him like they were trying to get out. He didn't need the translator to know they weren't happy though.

He closed the door, headed out to the truck and climbed in to start it up for the drive to the thicket where most the resident Fey population had taken up residence until they could get home. The fey still wouldn't come without a hundred yards of his house, thanks to the pups and Jo. Hopefully they'd be willing to show him the way, at least ... maybe know somebody he could talk to.

Honestly, he'd _much_ rather have a guest coming back with him than a prisoner or body. _That_ would be the crowning accomplishment of _any_ cryptozoologist's career.

The drive disappeared in thoughts of what the various ape-men around the world might be there. By the mythologies, most of them might be magical enough to have ended up on the other side. By his beliefs, only a handful were likely to be.

Still, he only _needed_ a handful, really. And even if he was wrong, it hardly mattered in the end. One of the beautiful things about his line of work - even if you were proven hideously wrong, you'd still made an incredible discovery.

With that thought he pulled to a stop in a spot where he could leave his truck for a few weeks without grief if need be and got out to travel the rest of the way on foot.

He looked around, trying to remember exactly where they'd left the house when they'd moved it. It wasn't too hard to spot - the animals and vegetation in the area were already responding well to their new neighbor, rabbits and deer becoming more common and docile, birds singing more. Normally, they'd have been taught the error of their way by predators, even in Eureka... but for whatever reason, the predators were a minor influence around the fey.

"Hello, Taggart," Cyrilista greeted him warmly.

"Hello," he smiled, looking up at her. "So... are you the one who'll be leading the way, or just coming to see us off?"

"I will lead you as best I can," she told him. "You did save me from the monsters."

"They're getting better about recognizing things they shouldn't go after," he offered. "So, is there a good spot near here, for this time of the year?"

"Not that we can open, but there is a weak spot nearby," she nodded and fluttered away, leading him deep into the woods that held no fear and few secrets for him.

"That's the main thing I'm after," he said easily, following her at a brisk walk. "I've got some ideas of my own for how to get through."

"Just yourself, or a way we can come?" she was suddenly much more interested in him.

"I _might_ be able to take you through with me... hoping I can," he admitted. "Be good to have somebody there who knows the customs better than I do. I've been talking to one of the physics geeks, he had a few ideas that might help me get through in the right place."

"What ideas?" a light, cheerful male voice asked from near his ear.

Taggart glanced over at the other fey approaching.

"Well, according to a lot of stories, it was usually minstrels or musical sorts who managed to get through... he had some ideas about using music or vibrations to weaken the barrier enough to slip through into your world."

They seemed to consider it, their voices all but inaudible to him.

"It is more likely it was because they could see beyond the obvious. It is the first step in recognizing magic," a female with huge, blue-black iridescent wings answered. "Once you accept that magic is real, the barrier weakens for you."

"Well, that might do the trick too," he mused. "Either way, I'm going to get through eventually."

"Falling asleep in the right place at the right time is the easiest way for a human to get across," Cyrilista offered.

"I'll try the sound machine first, I think," he chuckled slightly as they reached the ring. "I'd rather not be asleep and vulnerable on the other side, not knowing what's there."

"I won't let you be hurt while you sleep," Cyrilista promised him to a few murmurs from her kin.

"I'll still try this first ... sleep will probably come later. If it helps, I definitely believe that this is possible ... wouldn't be doing this if I didn't," he offered.

"You could not see us if you did not have the ability to believe," she told him. "Here," she motioned to a relatively non-descript bit of grass by a tree.

"Right," he nodded, setting up the small resonating device and starting it going before settling down in the circle. "So... can any of you sense anything?" He asked, looking around the gathered fey, all hopeful for a way home.

"It's not working," Cyrilista told him. "Bad noise too."

"Figured it was worth a shot," he shrugged slightly, turning it off. "So... any other ideas, before I try taking a nap?"

"Since you don't have any trained magical ability, no," Cyrilista shook her head and lighted on a branch just above sitting head level for him.

"Figures," he sighed, shaking his head and trying to relax. It wasn't that he thought it would be hard to sleep out here - he was used to much worse conditions. But he was keyed up for a hunt... that was harder to sleep through.

But still, he was going to try.

"Wait ... _trained_ magical ability?" he looked up at Cyrilista with a frown.

"You have a faint talent, but you are not trained," she elaborated. "A trained magic-user can just shred the barrier in places like this with a thought."

"Things like that common around here?" He asked her curiously, his mind distracted by the possible implications.

"Of who we have met, almost everyone has some level of talent, a few are strong enough an old-time wizard would have considered taking one as an apprentice," the Blue Morpho winged woman told him. "It can not be normal for the world or there would not be a divide."

"It isn't," he said easily. "Eureka might be a place of science, but if there's anywhere in the technological world that would accept magic, it's here... they just probably wouldn't call it that."

"Until it does, the talent here will remain unrealized and unused," she said a bit huffily.

"Are the semantics _that_ crucial to it?" He sighed, shaking his head. "You're not going to convince scientists to just start talking about magic, but to accept that it can do what it's supposed to do ... that's more likely."

"Occasionally," Cyrilista nodded. "It is more about the mindset, Taggart. By refusing to call it what it is when they know what it is, they deny its fundamental nature. Language is a very powerful thing when it is used to define something."

"From what I understand, magic as you define it is changing reality by _wanting_ to change it. Right? That's not how it's usually defined around here, at least not by most people. The word has a different meaning here than it does for you."

"So what does it mean here and now?" Cyrilista asked.

"It varies from one person to the next, but usually it means... fake," he said, trying to find a way to put it into words. "Go around Eureka, and at least nine out of ten people have seen so-called magic that was nothing more than smoke and mirrors, sometimes that was presented as the real thing. Magic means something that isn't _real_ , that can't be real by its nature. If you approach them about what it _is_ , changing the world through force of will, you'll get a lot more respect for that, particularly if you're talking to the Quantum Physics geeks."

"We generally don't want to try," she told him. "We are much safer for your world being separated."

"Fair enough. Though with what's been happening lately, somebody might manage to _force_ a bridge between the two, intentionally or otherwise, pretty soon. Just a heads-up for you all."

"When they do, they will find a world that is quite willing and able to defend itself," Cyrilista warned him quietly. "No human has gotten the upper hand over the enchanted. Your weapons and armor are still not sufficient to challenge magic yet."

"For what it's worth, in Eureka we wouldn't be trying to unless we had to defend ourselves. This is just for insurance," he explained, patting his rifle.

"We know that is true of you," she told him. "Or you would never be here with us. It is not true for all your kind, just like not all Fey are as friendly as we are."

"That much I've gathered," he nodded slightly. "Any way to tell if some of them have come through to here?"

"Sometimes," she nodded. "We have not found any since we arrived."

"Good to hear," he mused, stretching out. "I suppose I should try and get to sleep then... wake me up when we get through, if you can?"

"I will," Cyrilista promised.

* * *

Taggart woke up some time later to a touch that was _distinctly_ more personal than anybody but Jo had a right to these days.

"I'm actually going to hope that you're _not_ Cyrilista," he grumbled before shifting to sit up and open his eyes.

"No," a sweet smile on pale skin and framed by auburn locks greeted him. "I am Tryla, and you are quite handsome."

"I'm also quite taken," he pointed out, shifting to move away from her and stand up and quickly zipped his pants back up. "I've already got a mate."

"Who is not here," she said with a soft, pouty smile. "I can pleasure you while you are here."

"You _do_ realize that I'm a human," he pointed out, backing away, picking up his gear. This was starting to raise the hairs on the back of his neck... a sign that he'd learned long ago usually meant Something Wasn't Right.

"Of course," she looked at him in a mixture of surprise and hurt. "I meant no offense."

"I'm sure you didn't," he agreed. And he was - offense wasn't what he was picking up from her. "I just don't think this is a particularly good idea, that's all."

"What is wrong with taking pleasure when it is offered?" she asked him in honest confusion and took a step forward.

"When I get back, my mate'd kill me, for one," he said dryly. "For another... I don't know much about the fey, but I know a bit. I'm going to be very careful about taking offers that I don't necessarily understand _very_ well."

She jerked back as if he'd slapped her and stared at him with wide open eyes. "I give you my word, I mean no harm."

"Right," he nodded slightly, though he still wasn't entirely convinced. Maybe not intentionally, but there was no telling what he might be agreeing to that was covered under 'no harm.' "Look... it looks like my guide either didn't come through with me, or she took off somewhere. I don't know much about this world, but I'm not what you'd call a naturally trusting soul. No offense; I'd be this paranoid about anybody."

"You are here in search of something?" she nodded, seeming to accept his statement for what it was. She didn't conceal her disappointment, but she didn't seem to be upset either.

Just as well. He didn't really want to find out if tranqs worked on fairies just yet.

"Yeah, I am," he nodded. "Have you ever heard of Sasquatch, Yeti, Wendigo?" He asked, picking out a few other names that might be handy if she hadn't.

"The hairy humans," she nodded. "Yes, I know of them. They are not the kind of company I prefer."

"Maybe not, but they're the kind I'm looking for," he said seriously. "Would you be able to lead me towards some of them?"

"Well, yes," she thought about it. "What are you willing to trade for it?"

"What types of things are you interested in?" He asked, slinging his pack around to go through his trade goods.

"Company mostly, but I would settle for something pretty to put in my hair," she fluffed it to show off the handful of crystalline and gold baubles tied into the strands.

"Depending on the type of company, I can do both," he said, pulling out an intricately beaded hairpin of a sort that had often served him well when exploring more primitive areas. "Would something like this work?" He asked, opening up the case that protected it, and the carefully designed butterfly of synthesized emerald and amethyst that topped it off.

"Oh my," she brightened considerably. "You came well-prepared to barter here. I will lead you to the hairy humans for that."

"I try to," he chuckled slightly. "I've always found that it's helpful to assume something's worth less than it actually is. And that's a deal," he said easily, putting it back in the box and handing it over.

The fact that it had only cost him two days waiting for the stones and ten dollars in the rest of the supplies didn't hurt either. Of course, he rather doubted that anybody around here would care about more than whether or not the stone was real and looked good. He wasn't about to lie if asked directly what they were, but she hadn't asked and was clearly pleased with her new acquisition as it was set in a very prominent place on top of her head with a bit of hair through it.

"Come, it is several days to where the nearest of them live," she told him brightly.

"Lead the way," he said with a nod, going to follow her. He'd hoped quite a bit that he'd be able to get in and out without any serious delays... one of the reasons he'd _really_ wanted to avoid getting here by sleeping. As it was, he'd probably been here at least four years before she'd woken him up, and it would be decades or even centuries before he got back with his quarry if she was right.

It was enough to make him seriously wonder about Jo's claims that she, and the pups by extension, were nearly immortal short of incredible violence. They may well be the only thing left of the world he knew by the time he got back.

"You are thoughtful," Tryla said.

"I'd been hoping to get back somewhat sooner than it looks like I will," he explained. "Or at least to have a chance at it."


	25. A Hard Night's Passion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lurin shows Jake one thing too many, but it still doesn't stop him from giving the tom the time of his life, even as Taggart is having a waking dream interrupted by Lojack of all people.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written with Karl Wolfemann

Back in Eureka, Lurin was frowning as he looked over the simulation results for the plane that he and Jake were working on.

"This is entirely unacceptable," he muttered, crumpling up the paper and throwing it away. "Why are they so enraptured with using these same frames for _everything_?" He growled lowly, going back to his design files and starting to try making the changes they would need to get the heavy C &C jet to perform at the requested levels. "Purpose built is _always_ more effective," he grumbled to himself.

"But not as cost effective," Jake countered. "The fewer the number of frames, the lower the development and production costs."

"When you're talking about running a war, the price difference quickly becomes unimportant," Lurin said, shaking his head. "You didn't build everything onto the Turbokat's frame to make it less work," he pointed out.

"I also made a point of creating difficult to replicate creation," Jake pointed out with a chuckle. "Mine also cost nothing but my time. It's a very different dynamic to work within."

"Very different from Pumadyne as well, it seems," Lurin said dryly. "Look at this and tell me it wouldn't work better for these purposes," he said, bringing up a set of schematics for a vastly different system, more like a flying fortress than a plane. "Building it wouldn't be that much more expensive either, if they'd authorize use of some of the closeted generator technology here."

The design wasn't something that Jake had seen before... but the style of it was uncomfortably familiar. Blocky design... subtle touches to it that made the entire design inherently ominous and imposing. The armor designs were the most striking; he was sure he recognized them from his encounter with the Black Widow.

"So just how much work have you done for Dark Kat?" he asked quietly, still reviewing the designs.

"None," Lurin said stiffly. "My labs had been broken into prior to the nuclear plant, and some of my designs stolen. I wasn't exactly in a rush to tell the Enforcers after that Dreadnought attacked."

"I bet," Jake said sympathetically. "I can see why they appealed to him, though. You have quite the flair for the menacing."

"That's a bit of cross-inspiration," Lurin chuckled darkly. "The internals, the reinforcement ... that's my original work. The rest came from reverse-engineering some of Dark Kat's work and incorporating surviving pieces into mine. As for this one ... it _is_ a war machine they're asking for. It shouldn't look like any other jet, it should be menacing enough to clear the battlefield merely by appearing, let alone by doing its work."

Jake cocked his head at Lurin and considered his words. While they were not truly inaccurate, they weren't particularly accurate either. "A C&C craft isn't a war machine. It's a control craft."

"And just what is it intended to control?" Lurin countered, leaning back and looking over at Jake. "Unless they've found interested buyers with deeper pockets than normal, the ones we're working on now will be military craft."

"And ground and sea forces from near-orbital altitudes," Jake shifted to face Lurin in much the same manner as he was being faced. "A C&C craft isn't _seen_ by anyone but it's ground crew. It doesn't have weapons and armor isn't worth the fuel here unless you go far beyond what we're being asked to do."

"Fuel isn't nearly as much of an issue if you don't use petroleum-based products," Lurin countered. "Armor is one of my strong points, particularly related to keeping things heavily armored _and_ light. Energy-based armor can stop most attacks that might come at it, and foregoing the advantage created by _seeing_ the C &C vehicle before it moves up to let its army work is poor tactics at best. The currently preferred frame is holding the entire _concept_ from its ultimate expression."

"Maybe for you," Jake simply conceded that point. "I'll never see it never see it as more than a temporary in-between step before better comm systems make it obsolete. It's not worth an entirely new design because in a couple decades it won't be needed for anything anymore."

"Difference in philosophy then," Lurin shrugged. "The time will come when something like this could control all the vehicles beneath it, automate warfare on one side. With that sort of advantage, I suppose there's a part of me that feels obligated to give them something very large and imposing as a warning that they're already going to lose. If we strip out everything but the basics, we _could_ get it to work with the frame they're asking for."

"It's all they're asking for," Jake turned away to study the dreadnought design in earnest. "Do you _really_ want to give them that kind of a weapon to use to hunt us down with when they decide to?" he asked very quietly.

"Jake, what sort of idiot do you think I am?" Lurin chuckled. "I never design something I can't break. Not since the Widow. There are two primary weak points that can only be exploited by somebody who knows about them."

"If they're anything like the weak points I'm used to running across, that's not very reassuring, you know," Jake said dryly, then shrugged. "Guess I just don't like the idea of giving them the schematics for anything that actually _could_ make a real difference when it comes right down to it. Sooner or later it'll be used against us, here or on Aristal."

"In this case, the primary weak point is that the force field is reflective... on both sides," Lurin chuckled grimly. "I'd rather enjoy seeing the look on the face of anybody who fired the main gun with it up, quite frankly."

Jake raised an eyebrow with an odd look on his face as he turned to face Lurin. "You are warped, you know that?" he began to laugh. "That's just mean."

"Hey, if they're going to shoot it at me, it's their own fault - that gun's only meant to be used if something that can breach the field is there," Lurin smirked. "The second weakness is a bit trickier to use; the field and armor both have a very specific resonance frequency. If you could set up a sustained tone, the field would collapse, and the armor would crumble. One minute, and it's vulnerable as long as you keep the tone going."

"Not a bad backup plan," Jake nodded. "How familiar are you with just how good the folks here are at fixing such flaws? Have you seen their force field armor? It actually beats anything I've seen. Guess it's just me, but I'd rather not give them anything they could fix."

"Fair enough," Lurin nodded. "I suppose I just don't have quite the same opinion of their abilities."

"Or of the limits on your own, possibly," Jake half-suggested. "I may have survived on taking risks, but every one was as calculated as I could make it. I don't give up more of an edge than is strictly required of the situation. It's up to you if you want to propose this kind of craft, but just a fair warning; I won't back it. It's not a risk I'm willing to take."

"Possible, though counting you I've only run into two better," Lurin said with a slight shrug. "At any rate, that's fair enough. I assume you'd rather keep working at this model for now, then?"

"Yes," Jake nodded, then looked at Lurin curiously, a definite sense of uneasy confusion about him.

Lurin let him work up to it on his own, even though he knew the question that was coming. He knew it was going to be asked as soon as he'd decided to offer that bit of praise.

"Who?" Jake finally asked a solid twenty minutes of silent work later.

"Dark Kat," Lurin said easily. "I'd say the two of you are very closely matched, honestly. You've got better designs all around ... his tend to be better for a very, very specific goal."

"Out of necessity, at least in part," Jake said, though his attention was on what was before him, his mind churning the problem over and over until an answer presented itself out of sheer force of will. "He knew what he was up against. We might be fighting swamp monsters one day, an ancient volcano god the next, then a dreadnought and dinosaurs before we'd caught our breath. Versatile is never the best at everything, and I had to make it good enough to handle anything, even itself," he shuddered at the memories that haunted him even more than the idea of killing an innocent.

"Could well be the case," Lurin nodded. "I'm just giving you my opinion, based on what I've seen of both your work. I'd hate to live on the difference," he chuckled slightly.

"There was a decade and some there where the city was," Jake forced himself to relax with a breath. "Chance'll never admit it, but we're both glad Feral managed to handle things without us. It didn't work out that way at least once. He's starting to like the idea of staying put."

"I can't really blame him," Lurin chuckled. "I'm not so fond of the place, but it's got to be better for you here than it was back home."

Jake looked up and around, looking for all the world like he was really studying the place for the first time.

"Sometimes," he admitted. "I still want to go home, even if it doesn't end up being soon."

"Any particular reason?" Lurin asked curiously as they started into the work seriously.

He gave Lurin kind of an odd look, then shrugged. "I don't want to die on an alien world; risk being lost for good."

"I'd never really figured you for the religious sort," Lurin observed.

"You and just about everyone else," Jake chuckled. "Sometimes what parts of your upbringing manage to stick can surprise you. It's gotten us home a couple times though, so I can't much complain. Gave me something to do after SWAT too."

"So what do you believe in, besides reincarnation?" Lurin asked him curiously. "I'm more agnostic myself, I suppose."

"That Bastet and several of the others are very real, and what you do with your life does matter. That they will help when the need and will is there, and it doesn't happen often." Jake sort of shrugged. "They have laws like any society, and they've killed off those that can't follow those rules."

"You're talking like you've got more than just reading the scriptures behind that," the Xanith observed, glancing over at Jake. "Seen more than most have?"

"I was told I ODed on SDR, that it nearly killed me, and was seeing things as they brought me back," he could only shrug his lack of acceptance of that statement. "What I remember was Bastet, quite a lecture on my attitude problem and getting hit pretty hard by Halikar for being stubborn in the wrong ways just before I woke up in the hospital."

"Well, I've certainly heard of stranger reasons for visions," Lurin mused. "I take it you don't remember taking that much?"

"I didn't take any," he grumbled. "I barely drank back then. My roommate came in and found me unconscious. The docs just made up the rest to have an explanation they could believe. Whatever they saw convinced them I'd ODed. With no proof it couldn't go in my record, so it didn't really affect much except by temper for a couple weeks. Whatever it was, it did its job though," Jake turned and leaned against the table to look at Lurin. "When I got done being mad at the doctors, I had a new plan for the future. It's what they wanted, and they got it."

"Is that what led you to SWAT?" He asked him. The Gods keeping an eye on them ... it would certainly explain a lot.

"In a roundabout way, I suppose," he chuckled a bit. "It lead me to the Enforcers, which turned me into a gunner and partnered me with Chance. SWAT ... that was just to stop Chance's moping after we were booted, really. I never thought it would turn into what it did. He just needed to get back into the air with a good jet. The rest ... it kind of just happened. He never could turn away from someone in need, and I'm not much better. I guess I could have seen it coming, but I didn't until Feral started to make a big deal about the black jet getting in the way. It wasn't until then that we came up with a the SWAT Kats name and costumes."

"Lucky nobody traced you back before you had those," Lurin chuckled. "Would have ended it all rather quickly, I suspect."

"Only if they'd killed us," Jake shrugged. "I don't think we'd actually crossed an Omega yet, but yeah, it occurred to me. I've never quite understood how we _haven't_ gotten unmasked yet. It never seemed like it would be all that hard, even with the precautions we did take. Getting us at the Yard, now that's was another matter. I did some of my best work securing that place," he grinned a bit. "The Metallikats freaked Chance out enough he stopped complaining about it."

"So they _did_ know who you were?" Lurin looked a bit shocked, and very interested.

"Yeah, three different times," Jake shook his head in bemusement. "Every time they got their memories wiped before anyone who cared to do anything found out. I've always figured Feral and Ms. Briggs knew early on too, or at least were pretty sure, but none of us were willing to start that conversation."

"I can imagine," Lurin nodded slightly. "It certainly never seemed to improve Feral's opinion of you if he did though," he chuckled.

"If he _did_ know who we were, it'd irritate the hell out of him," Jake laughed easily, and with some real mirth. "He _personally_ booted us from the Enforcers and is more responsible for the SWAT Kats being around than me and Chance in a lot of ways. If he hadn't sent us to the Yard in disgrace, SWAT would have never happened."

"And the Enforcers much better off, probably," Lurin chuckled, shaking his head. "Fate, I suppose. Few other ways to explain the string of coincidences."

Jake went silent and thought about it. "I'm not so sure. Everything since we each got into the Enforcers was a fairly predictable response to a given situation. I guess what happened and when could have been arranged, but it was the most likely course of events given the three personalities involved. Feral doesn't have what it takes to know what to do with a team like us, and he hated us for it. He would have done something to us eventually, and Chance would mope about the loss of his wings and I would have given him his wings back. The odds of it not happening was fairly low in the long run."

"Perhaps. But what led up to it is somewhat more unusual; that you would have ended up anywhere _but_ Pumadyne in particular," Lurin countered. "I said I'm agnostic; fate is one of the few things I _do_ firmly believe in."

"Feral would never let anyone who showed him up have that good a life," Jake shook his head. "He's done it to others. The guy is big on vengeance and taking things personally."

"I was talking about before the Enforcers, and ending up partners with Chance. When you got blacklisted and it stuck," Lurin pointed out and watched Jake still, his body language turning in on himself as he tried to look as inconspicuous as possible. He did a pretty good job of it to; someone walking into the room had a good chance of not noticing him there, he was so quiet and contained. "That's a string of events that's pretty unusual."

"Is it?" Jake asked quietly, his eyes darting about the room. "What happened ... it couldn't have been his first try."

"Maybe not. But it worked far more effectively than normal. And most who run into that wouldn't go to the Enforcers, they'd find other ways to fight it, or go underground. If they did go to the Enforcers, it would be as R&D, not as a gunner. They wouldn't have the natural talent for it you did... or find a partner with similar skills."

"I guess," Jake conceded the point as he lost track of why they were talking about the part of his life he did his damnedest to forget had happened.

"In the mood for a different topic?" Lurin suggested with a low rumble.

"Sure," he turned back to the design they were working on. "How much of the material you are used to using for armor is actually known here?"

"Most of it, though I hadn't been thinking of that _particular_ topic," the Xanith chuckled, reaching over to rub Jake's back lightly, his claws out just enough to catch on his shirt.

He knew he'd made his point when Jake's breath caught and his body stiffened to press against that sharp offering with a moan. It was a good as a verbal yes, better sometimes.

From Jake... from _Razor_... it was so much better.

It might be worth asking him to come in uniform on night. To have the visual along with the knowledge would be incredible.

"Unzip yourself," Lurin rumbled deeply. He loved doing this with anybody, but particularly with the lead SWAT Kat. Having such a strong-willed, powerful male submitting to him so eagerly ... it was a kick, to say the least.

He felt Jake tremble in anticipation and the motions that went with the sound of a zipper opening. Also there were the subtle shifts as desires came up and sank back down as Jake anticipated what was about to happen.

He knew the much smaller tom was already hard. He responded so quickly to these advances.

"Such a delicious little tom," the Xanith rumbled, undoing his own pants. "Make me hard," he ordered Jake. He was already part way there, but making the cinnamon tom do the extra work to get what they _both_ wanted was usually well worth it.

Lurin heard the low, hungry sound Jake made before he cupped Lurin's balls in his hands, fondling and rubbing them as he put his tongue to work teasing each uniquely shaped bit of flesh that protruded from the main rod of flesh.

"Good kitten," Lurin purred deeply, reaching down to scratch his scalp roughly. There were times he wondered just how far Jake would let himself be pushed, but just now he wasn't as interested in testing those limits. Maybe later on, but for now....

"Stand up and turn around," he ordered him once he was hard.

Jake quite willingly obeyed; his hands braced on the table and his tail high against his back in an open invitation to take him.

Lurin leaned over him, rubbing himself against Jake's firm ass before pulling his pants down and shifting to sink his shaft deep into the smaller tom's body, his hand gripping the scruff of Jake's neck dominatingly.

It always felt good, the physical tightness and warmth was enough to make him come quickly regardless of who he was inside. This time, with this tom, it was an effort to hold back because of the thrill of it. Even now, after having taken him so many times, it was such a rush to know that _Razor_ was under him and would beg for more.

He reached down to cup Jake's groin in his hand, felt the hardness there, the undeniable truth to Jake's desires, and unsheathed his claws.

"You want me to hurt you, kitten?" He taunted, his voice low, menacing as he started fucking Jake hard and deep. "Want me to make you bleed?"

"Yes," Jake moaned, trembling at the fucking he was taking. "Please, make me bleed."

"Good kitten," the Xanith rumbled, shifting his hand and sinking his claws into Jake's thigh, enjoying the feel and scent of his blood. "Beg for it, you little slut," he grunted, his balls starting to tingle as he fought to hold back for a while longer.

"Please, higher," Jake whimpered, begging shamelessly as he pushed back into Lurin's thrusts. "Pierce my balls, cut my cock."

"Not yet," he chuckled, only to groan as his balls pulled up against his body fully. "I have plans for that soon."

"Please," Jake cried out and tried to shift his body to put his groin where the claws were. "More."

Carefully keeping his claws away from anything vital - for now - Lurin gave Jake some of what he wanted, gripping his shaft and piercing two of his barbs with his claws as his own balls erupted deeply into Jake's bowels.

"Yes!" Jake roared, his own seed shooting from his cock to mix with the blood on Lurin's claws and on the floor. "Sweet Bastet, keep going," he panted, squeezing down on the arm-sized cock inside him.

"Mmm, you make it so tempting," Lurin nipped at Jake's shoulder and pulled out to let his seed run down Jake's legs and mingle with the seed and blood already there. "But I want to give you everything you can take today."

Jake whimpered and shivered at the very idea. He nodded and swallowed. "Where?"

"My house," he grinned down and put himself back together quickly. "I have a surprise for you. Are you going to need your leg bandaged up before we go?"

Jake reached down to feel what was done and shook his head before he pulled his jeans up. "It'll be fine, since this was just the beginning."

"Good," Lurin grinned, licking his fingers clean of blood and seed. "Let's go then; I want you to see your surprise."

"So do I," Jake shivered slightly and followed Lurin out, quite willingly getting in his car and letting him drive to the Xanith's house.

Once they got there, Lurin opened up the glove compartment and pulled out a small, simple blindfold.

"Going to keep you guessing for a _little_ bit," he chuckled, handing it to Jake and watched for the subtle shifts that were all this tom offered of his real reactions. He caught the fractional hesitation, then a slight tensing of muscles as Jake put the blindfold on -- correctly.

Lurin knew most would miss it, but he had little difficulty noting that while Jake trusted him to a point, it was far from the total trust he suspected Chance enjoyed.

"Don't worry ... I think you'll enjoy this surprise," he purred, getting out and getting the door for Jake. He knew the smaller tom wouldn't need much leading to get inside, so he let him walk on his own. "Undress once you're inside ... let your ears and nose tell you what's happening."

Lurin licked his lips as he watched Jake move too easily for someone who was blindfolded; it showed not only the tom's natural balance, but also just how much blind combat training he'd had.

He knew the instant Jake recognized who was inside the house waiting for them, and held a chuckle to himself when Jake glanced his way despite not being able to see. It didn't take Jake long to strip down however; the only difficulty he had was in getting his bloody jeans off, but he seemed to have practice with that as well.

"I do hope you're not the possessive sort with your toys," Lurin rumbled, moving in to nuzzle Jake's neck lightly. 

"No, I'm not," Jake answered and turned his head to return the nuzzle and claim a kiss.

Just having the woman here, his sometimes-pet, was enough to click Jake's mind towards its domineering side and it showed very clearly to Lurin. Right now it wasn't so hard to believe the lean tom in his living room was Razor.

"So, can you find her?" He asked, locking the door behind them. He was sure that Jake _could_ , but the new side to the game was interesting. He was glad to see, as Jake moved, that the wounds on his leg weren't re-opening just yet. He wanted the tom in good shape for now.

"Easily enough," he stepped forward towards the bound woman who was trying her best to remain silent as Lurin had instructed her.

Lurin watched her watch Jake get within a step of her before he had to reach out for her to avoid bumping into her in the next step.

"Show me what you do with your little pet," Lurin purred, stripping down himself as Cathy leaned forward to nuzzle Jake's bloody leg tenderly. "And what you can do with her without your eyes."

Jake ran his hands along her body, just taking in her position and state of dress.

She was naked, at least mostly. As he explored her body, Lurin settled back to watch the cinnamon-furred tom, naked except for a blindfold, explore and enjoy his sometimes-pet, clad in nothing more than intricately tied ropes that kept her in a kneeling position on the floor, her breasts pushed up, her entire body open and receptive to whatever whim the two toms might have for her.

She couldn't hold back the soft moan when his fingers found her crotch and a claw slid out to slide along her slick, hard clit. He silenced her with a demanding kiss and put his full hand between her legs as he knelt to be fairly even with her.

Without any hesitation Jake broke the kiss and closed his jaws around the side of her throat. His claws came out fully to leave rivulets of blood behind them along the inside of her thighs.

Lurin purred deeply, watching as Jake let his touch guide his hands, carefully avoiding anything serious even as he carved bloody gashes into his lover. Cathy moaned beautifully ... she knew how Jake liked his playthings, as she'd explained to Lurin when he'd come up with this idea.

The hardest part had been _not_ touching her himself... yet. The payoff he expected today would make up for it though.

His attention focused sharply on Jake when he suddenly let go of her throat, but he relaxed again when he merely pushed her backwards and forced her legs a bit further apart before driving his cock into her sex and closing his jaws on her left breast to leave a bloody ring of lines as he drew his head back.

"Master," Cathy moaned deeply, pressing herself against Jake, working the walls of her sex around his shaft. Lurin started stroking himself, watching Jake's tail twitch, his leanly muscled body working hard as he fucked and clawed and bit his eagerly submissive partner.

Lurin had to admit it had been hard to believe that someone so submissive and into being hurt as he knew Jake was could be this dominant and into inflicting that pain. It wasn't impossible, he knew; after all, he'd had one lover who had shown him the pleasure of surrender and receiving pain. What bemused him about what he was watching was how easily Jake did it. He took someone very special to accept submission; Jake just seemed to need a situation and he'd respond to whom he was with.

It made him wonder how much of this was truly _Jake's_ desires, what existed without any input at all, and how much it was being the ultimate submissive personality. The rare person that would be anything, even a very good dom, as long as it pleased who he was with.

It was an interesting puzzle to work over, and one that occupied Lurin's mind for several moments along with the show he was seeing. Cathy, frankly, couldn't really care any less if she'd tried; she was too busy enjoying Jake's not-so-tender ministrations, trying to return the pleasure as well as she could without being able to use most of her body.

Jake didn't seem to care much either as he came for the second time. He was clearly enjoying taking his pleasure and the scent of blood that must be all-consuming in his nose by now.

Lurin stood, moving towards the kat and woman, reaching down to rake his claws down Jake's back. It was as close to startled as Lurin had ever encountered in him, but the tension soon fled.

"Ohhh," Jake moaned and drove himself deep into her body with a roaring scream as he came dry.

The Xanith grunted, driving his cock up into Jake's hot, dripping ass as he reached up to strip Jake's blindfold off and let him see what was going on, how his pet had been tied up for him.

All the better for what Lurin had in mind to come after this.

He pounded into Jake's body, driving the smaller tom into Cathy with every move, and felt their pleasure ripple back from Jake's body. There had been a risk to this, in how Jake would react, but it was going perfectly.

"Nnngh ... what are you?" He asked Jake with a low groan, taking the risk even further. "My plaything... or her Master?"

"The Master, if I have to choose," Jake responded, though he did nothing to stop what was happening and was openly enjoying it in front of Cathy.

"You can be both," Lurin reassured him, biting his shoulder roughly as a hard contraction ripped through Jake's body. "Though I might ask you to submit more than normal later," he purred deeply.

"Sure," Jake moaned, his body willingly giving Lurin everything he asked for and more.

"Bite her," the Xanith commanded with a low groan, about ready to come himself as he sank his claws into the meat of Jake's ass. The command was barely out when Jake drove his teeth into her shoulder and nearly closed on her collarbone.

Her scream drowned out even Lurin's roar as both of them came in and around Jake, Lurin's seed filling his body, her sex clenching down and milking Jake's barbed shaft hungrily.

A few moments passed as the three of them recovered, and Lurin pulled out of Jake's ass with a deep rumble.

"Clean off your plaything ... you're going to be pleasuring her for a while, rather than the other way around." He reached back, starting to untie the bloody young woman, his powerful hands taking every opportunity to feel her up in any way he wanted.

He licked his lips at how willingly Jake went to his task, and beyond it. Even without Cathy's moans, he could see that Jake had taken the comment about pleasuring her as part of the order, and was willingly using the skills he'd learned for Marie on his pet turned master for the day.

He undid Cathy's legs, and she stretched them out with a low moan of relief and pleasure that mingled with the ones Jake was drawing out of her. As the lean tom moved down to nuzzle her abs and sex, Lurin made short work of cleaning himself off and getting Cathy onto her feet while Jake continued his work to clean up what he had created.

"Now, what will you give _me_ for your freedom and the dedicated tongue between your legs?" He rumbled in Cathy's ear.

"Depends entirely on what you want," she rumbled back, reaching down to stroke Jake's ears. Lurin sank his shaft into her dripping sex, starting to pound into her as Jake's attentions were split between them, the Xanith's claws playing along both their bodies, fully planning on testing the endurance of all three of them.

* * *

"Chance? Was tonight going to be a date night with Cathy?" Marie asked curiously as they pulled in from a visit with the pups to find the other woman's car in the driveway some hours later.

"No," he murmured. "He hasn't felt like it since Lurin got here."

"If she's in the mood, you know anybody else we can point her towards? Looks like Jake's probably still at work ... or over at Lurin's," Marie observed as she climbed out, glancing back to confirm that Jake's cyclotron was conspicuously absent.

"I'm liking that guy less every time they get together," Chance grumbled and got out of the car. "How'd she get in?" he asked himself when he didn't see her outside.

"Jake didn't give her a key?" Marie asked, starting for the door, purse over her shoulder. "Maybe Jake got in the mood all of a sudden," she mused.

"Maybe," he agreed to the possibility as she opened the door. "Not much blood, or sex," he noted with the first breath.

"Quiet too," Marie added as they stepped inside cautiously. "But it _is_ there... maybe they've gotten a chance to clean up?"

"Could be," Chance nodded slightly, closing the door and looking around.

"Y'know... we don't _have_ to go creeping through here," Marie observed, mostly to herself. "We're entitled to be here, and Cathy isn't Melody. Let's go check out the hot tub area. I think I hear it running."

"Right, right," Chance straitened a bit and began to move with more fluid speed. "So do I."

"Oh my _God_ ," Marie gasped as the wet heat of bloodstained air assailed her when she opened the bathroom door.

"It's not that bad," Cathy tried to assure them before anything bad happened.

"I'll be fine," Jake said sleepily from the whirling water that was tinted a pale red.

"If it wasn't you in here with him, I wouldn't be taking that at face value," Chance sighed. "What happened, and do either of you need a doctor?"

"You have a very impressive first aid station," Cathy said.

"That would be no," Jake chuckled weakly and looked up at Chance. "She's a very good masochist; knows more about taking care of injuries than I do."

"Which is saying something," Cathy added respectfully. "Jake is as skilled at tending claw wounds as inflicting them."

"Did you inflict his injuries?" Marie asked quietly, taking in the scene and the elements that didn't add up to her.

"A few, but not many," she answered truthfully.

"Lurin," Marie guessed. "Only other guy around here with claws, and I don't _think_ you're usually into the inflicting end of things."

"We met a few nights ago, and he had the idea of getting Jake and I both subbing to him," Cathy explained easily. "I knew about his reputation, and he lives up to it, but if it's what you're into he's good."

"So, is there anything that still needs to be checked out, by either of us?" Chance asked, trying to stick to the topic of the shape that Jake was in. "Or that's going to take longer term care?"

"I'll be a few days to get back into full condition again, but it's nothing that the ointments we have on hand won't fix," Jake assured him.

"You're still bleeding," Chance pointed out.

"And my cock's got a latticework of burns on it," Jake shrugged, then winced as the movement pulled a sore muscle in his back. "I've gotten hurt worse than this in training, Chance, and not enjoyed it nearly as much. Honest, buddy, Lurin won't cross any line you give him, and he knows I can't be out of training more than a couple days."

"Hang on, what is this about burns _where_?" Chance demanded, his ears flattening.

"Nothing that'll do permanent damage, Chance," Cathy reassured him. "Nothing I haven't done before myself, even, though I'll admit I didn't do it anywhere that sensitive."

" _What happened?_ " Chance asked again, growling in frustration.

"He sewed a thin wire all around my cock and sent an electric charge through it," Jake explained with a shiver of pure pleasure at just the description. "First it's electric shock, then the wire melts. This is Eureka-stuff and even cleans by up vaporizing at low temperatures."

"Sewed?" Marie asked, swallowing hard.

"Through his barbs, though it won't leave any permanent damage," Cathy reassured them. "Unless he decides to get them pierced more normally."

"Not anytime soon, though I don't think I've ever felt anything like that," Jake added. "It really is incredible."

"So how was hard you came, before you passed out," Cathy scooted close to him and used her fingers to confirm that nothing had reopened.

"I think I remember that," Jake murmured.

"Okay ... it looks like he needs some sleep. You need any more bandages for him?" Chance asked, heading over to the first aid station.

"I should have most of them covered," Cathy said easily. "And yes, he probably could use some, but you might want to get him some dinner first."

"I'll make something up," Marie nodded as Jake reluctantly pulled himself out of the jacuzzi, giving his mates their first good look at his physical condition, and a good guess at what it had looked like just after Lurin had finished with them. Claw and bike marks as expected, the angry red web of red burns on what was visible of his cock ... 

As much as it turned Chance's stomach, he had to admit that it was much more controlled than what Melody had done, and Lurin had sent someone competent to care for Jake once he was home; not to mention he sent him right now. All the points that he needed to look at about the sanity of it all ... Lurin did every one right.

Damn it, he _hated_ the fact that this was happening, but there wasn't a thing he could _do_ about it without being utterly unreasonable.

"And how are you?" He asked Cathy, glancing over at her.

"Not as bad in some ways, worse in others," she said easily. "Jake did a number on my shoulder that I'll need to make sure heals right, but it was worth it," she smiled up at the cinnamon tom and got a lick to the side of the face for it.

"Okay, let's get him in bed and I'll double-check that you both got looked after right," he sighed and gathered up some supplies. "You look like you could stand a good nap too," he nodded to Cathy. "You can crash here if you want."

"I'd appreciate it," she said honestly. "Would Marie like some help in the kitchen first?" She offered.

"She'll be fine," Chance assured her and got them both in the bed. "We keep plenty of leftovers and quick food around here."

"M'kay," Cathy murmured as she snuggled up next to Jake, leaving Chance to go talk with Marie.

"Any other ideas for keeping him away from that Xanith?" Marie asked softly. "Not that I mind him roaming ... it's just that I'd _kinda_ like to be sure I actually have a _groom_ left for the wedding when it happens."

"Unfortunately unless _Jake_ thinks it goes too far, there isn't much to stop them," he signed and dropped into a chair. "Our best hope is going to be that he calms down after this rush of freedom is over. Until then, I'm keeping an eye on that Kat."

"Jake's not going to think it goes too far until somebody's been hurt _permanently_ ," Marie sighed, shivering. "God... I wish there was some way I could help give him what he needs without him having to go so far! He'd need a _real_ checkup to make sure nothing permanent happened, especially with the nerves."

"Marie ... he's wanted this his whole life, he already had a knife he used when I met him. Ever since Academy he couldn't indulge in more than a few scratches. Now ... I don't like it, but he's making up for lost time."

"But ..."

"I'm going to keep an eye on him. Unless you're willing to live with the consequences of extracting a promise from him not to see Lurin again."

"And what it'd take to make him give that promise," she nodded. "I'd hate myself afterwards," she admitted, then sighed.

"Same reason I haven't yet either," he leaned back. "It's all we can do."

"I know you'll take good care of him," she said, moving to give him a hug as dinner heated. "And I know you're as worried as I am... maybe even more. Thank you."

"Hey, you're welcome," he hugged her sideways. "He's my mate too."

"He's your partner," she smiled at him. "That's a world more than mate and I know it."

"Yeah," Chance smiled back, nuzzling her neck. "For what it's worth, you're the closest anybody else has made it to that, I think... at least that I knew. C'mon, let's get some food in to those two."

* * *

"Where's Hunter at?" Ress whined as she ran through the woods with her father. "No fun when he's gone."

"Hunting the hairy humans," he told her. "In Fairy land. Gone too long."

"So let's go _find_ him," she woofed. "He just can't take a joke."

"He can't," he agreed. "This way."

"We're going that way already?" Ress asked curiously, then drew up short when she saw the fey up ahead. "Sparkly people!"

"Yes, they know where Hunter crossed into their lands," he woofed and tolerantly nodded. "Don't startle them, they might get spooked and run -"

"Hi new people!" Ress barked cheerfully, apparently ignoring the warning in favor of the theory that people didn't need to be stalked like animals did. She took off, running towards them with puppy clumsiness.

"Your daughter's... friendly," Cyrilista called down to Lojack from the trees as Ress caught up with one of the brownies and started cheerfully licking at his face.

"Yes, she is also young and a bit slow," he told her. "We are looking for Hunter ... he said he wanted to hunt the big hairy humans with your help."

"Oh, Taggart. He disappeared into Fairy a few days ago, but that isn't too long back home. I don't suppose you could arrange for somebody to haul off his gadget? We've turned it off, but it's not particularly attractive where it is."

"We can do that," Lojack nodded. "Will you help us go after him?"

"If we can get through, gladly," she nodded. "It's tricky though. We were all in the circle with him when he slipped through. He was the only one to go," she grumbled.

"Whatever brought you here will be worked out so you can go back," he assured her. "Such things are common here. Ress, go fetch a cat-person to take Hunter's device away."

"Okay," she woofed, turning and loping off, leaving a sopping brownie behind her.

"And people wonder why I don't like dogs," he grumbled, pulling out a handkerchief to dry off. "Err... no offense," he said to Lojack.

"None taken," Lojack chuckled and laid down to wait for her to return with someone. "She can be a bit much at times."

"Kids always can," Cyrilista said easily as the fey settled in to wait ... and to get outside of easy tongue reach for when Ress came back.

It was about an hour or so later when they finally did, Chance coming back with Ress' head sticking out of the tow truck's passenger window.

"If I ever get home, she was an attractive teenage Kantin whose Dad's truck broke down," Chance muttered to himself as he parked the truck and got out. "So ... where's the 'big, big, shiny thing' I'm supposed to move?" He asked, looking around.

"This way," Cyrilista said and fluttered into obvious view for him.

Chance followed her, looking down that the chromed boombox that was waiting for him. At least that was what it looked like.

"Lojack? Talk to Ress about what 'big, big' means," he groaned, picking it up and carrying it out easily.

"The size of his car," he informed his daughter. "That thing is small."

"Oh," she rurred, cocking her head. "Looked big to me. Couldn't pick it up." She explained, rolling her shoulders in a canine shrug. "So, can we look for Hunter now?" She asked eagerly.

"You two aren't exactly his favorite people in the world right now," Chance pointed out, setting the device in the truck and climbing in.

"No one else going after him," Lojack said. "His mate won't."

"Dull without Hunter," Ress added.

"Hey, he's just out in the woods somewhere," Chance said with a bit of a shrug. "From what I understand, this is normal for him."

"He went to Fairyland," Lojack informed him. "Hunting big hairy humans where they live all the time."

"Hold it, he went into Fairy?" Chance asked, blinking. "Why the _fuck_ didn't he tell anybody?"

"Because you guys would've stopped him," Cyrilista pointed out. "Not that I blame you. For what it's worth, he's probably still napping on that side. We we'll probably get these two through, grab him, and they'll be back in about six months or so."

"Six -"

"Time difference," she shrugged.

"I won't wait," the tabby shook his head. "Have fun, guys, and good luck retrieving him. Jo'll be _pissed_ if he's gone too much longer than that."

"Well, if we're gone longer than that, then you might as well just try and find a skeleton somewhere to pass off as his, 'cause it'll mean he's probably going to be at least a century getting back."

"That's beyond 'pissed' and at 'homicidal," Chance murmured, starting the truck and pulling out.

"Well, that's what you get for having werewolves around," Cyrilista muttered as she headed back towards the ring with Lojack and Ress.

"They aren't real werewolves," Lojack reminded her. "No sparkle at all. Just science and humans."

"Didn't the one you guys had _eat_ a couple dozen children?" Cyrilista pointed out dryly. "And rape and slow-torture a family mostly to death? Frankly, I think the difference is academic."

"Only kill the pups," Lojack told her. "Wasn't being werewolf that made him sick in the head. He was as human too. Deputy isn't mean like that. She cares about us."

"Your problem, not ours," she shrugged lightly. "I'm just glad _she's_ not the one going through for him. Wouldn't last an hour on the other side."

"We will remember that," he woofed. "Ress, just think about the sparkly place and follow me," he instructed and stepped forward, disappearing from the view of the Fey there.

Ress followed him easily, looking around once they were on the other side.

"Hunter's not here," she offered helpfully.

"I can see that, Ress," Lojack pointed out, sniffing around. "He was though."

"There's people this way," she said, nodding towards a vague path, sniffing the air, her head high. "Not Hunter, another human!" She barked excitedly. "Maybe knows where he is?"

Lojack gave a sniff. "The Crazy-Wolf took her. She is from home."

"Let's find her, scent's newer," Ress said, taking off to follow the faint scent. "With others too, might help us find Hunter and get home!"

Lojack nodded and padded along after his daughter until she caught a fresh whiff of the girl's scent and took off with an excited baying. He sighed and picked up his pace to keep up, grateful now to have bred a bloodhound and not a greyhound.

Not far that away Taggart was deep in the final stages of negotiation with three different tribes -- and breeds -- of Gigantopithicus. Representatives of the Yeti, Bigfoot and Asian Wild Man had all answered his request to speak with them. Time meant nothing now. He didn't care. He was face to face with his life's quest and beyond his wildest dreams. Life was good. Very, very good.

"I'm not asking somebody to come back permanently," he explained again. "Just for a brief time, to prove that you _do_ exist. It could be the first step towards actually solving some of the problems that exist."

"Why not ask more magical ones?" an Asian Wild Man asked, his long red hair and body hair concealing all expression. "They can prove things faster."

"Because your kind are already seen in our world on a fairly regular basis," he explained. "There's a large part of the population that already _does_ believe you exist, and a larger part that would be ready to if they saw you in a situation that couldn't be a hoax."

"I will go," a yellowing Yeti said, his deep voice gravely and determined. "I am old and will die soon anyway."

"But your lands are far away and Eureka is fairly warm," a female Bigfoot reminded him. "I know the area, the paths and weapons they use against us."

"We also have magics that work in that area," one of the males added. "Ways to hide and escape if need be."

"There shouldn't _be_ any need," Taggart offered. "I don't plan to expose Fairyland, and it shouldn't be more than a few days, maybe weeks, before you could return."

"We haven't lasted this long by trusting to what people _intend_ ," the male pointed out. "No offense to you, but we must plan for the worst, as well as the best."

"I understand that," Taggart inclined his head to them. "It is best to be prepared, for all I intend it to go well."

"With that in mind," another of the Asian Ape Men said deeply, "we will have to take some time to select people who will go, and to prepare for it. You and your companion are welcome to stay with us during that time, and we will likely be ready to go some time tomorrow."

"Thank you," Taggart tried to control his excitement enough to remain respectful and appropriate. It wasn't an easy thing, but he managed. "I await your preparations."

"Come, I've already been checking out the rooms they have available," Tryla offered, taking his hand as the planning began in earnest. "We have food and drink available as well."

"That would be good," he admitted and followed her readily to the quarters they had been provided, shaped from the living trees of the ancient forest.

"One thing I _do_ have to say for the people here, they have an excellent idea of proper hospitality," she smiled as they found the mostly empty room, furnished with simple, natural objects that had been turned to new purposes. "So, everything went well?" She asked as she passed him a plate of cooked meats and fruit, then opened a bottle that had been left for them.

"Very well, I believe," he accepted the plate, selecting a large apple from it, and put it on the nearby low table. "They have gone to decide who is coming with me and what precautions they will take."

"I'd say that's well then," she nodded, pouring a couple glasses of the wine and handing him one. "You've been trying to do something like this for how long again?"

"Most of my life," he said and sipped the wine. He had to admit it went very well with everything they ate, and tasted good as well. "Though I never expected to leave Earth to do it."

"Technically you haven't," she pointed out. "Just gone to a part of it very few people do these days. Of course, there's not likely to be much of your old life left anymore."

"Given the only parts I cared about are likely immortal, I'm not too worried about it," he shrugged. "I've started over with far less several times."

"Immortal?" Tryla asked, clearly shocked.

"Yes," he sighed and sipped a little more wine as he relaxed. "A side effect of the experiments she was in. Immortal, all but unkillable, and generally ill-tempered."

"I... see," Tryla murmured. "Well, that should certainly make it easier for you to go back. Though she might not be as happy about it."

"Quite possible," he agreed regretfully. "If she is, then I start over with nothing except an incredible discovery, again."

"You wouldn't _have_ to do it that way, you know," she offered, pouring him another glass of the wine. "I'm sure you could find things to do here."

"Probably could," he nodded. "If my world has no need of me, maybe I'll come back."

"So, why _did_ you dedicate so much time to finding the hairy-ones?" She asked him curiously, settling in to enjoy their meal and make sure his glass stayed full.

"They were the next great thing to hunt," he chuckled lightly. "I hunted animals, dangerous ones, unarmed. I beat everything nature had to offer and I had to find something new, something more. So I started to hunt the things that didn't exist, but evidence said they did; cryptos by modern terminology. The greatest of them, for us, are the near-humans."

"I'm guessing you didn't tell them about that," she chuckled. "So, what do you think you'll do if there isn't a place for you back home?

Taggart frowned a bit. "I haven't killed without a life in danger for decades, ma'am," he said, his speech just slightly slurred from a sluggish brain. "Hunt can mean seek, and in this case does. I leaned long ago that there was little reward in killing for it's own sake."

"Ah. That's a far less common form of hunting around here, even in a world where the animals are often intelligent," she said with a slight shrug. "My apologies."

"Such is true on my Earth, but it's generally understood that a hunt involving an intelligent quarry isn't going to be fatal," he repeated the distinction as his eyes unfocused a bit more.

"Fair enough," she nodded. "Though some intelligent quarry have it coming ... some of the Black Wolves, for instance. Would you like something more to drink?"

"That will always be true," he acknowledged with a nod and all but lay down on his side. "Every type has it's good and bad examples, even simple animals."

"Mmm ... maybe I should have warned you that this is rather potent wine," she smiled seductively, moving closer to him as the room shifted and changed, as she magically took the appearance of his lover from his mind. By the time she was laying next to him, the room looked like his own bedroom, and she was the perfect mimic of Jo, her long dark hair laid out over her body.

"Dreaming," he mumbled, staring at the vision he hadn't seen enough times yet to take for granted on any level.

"Let's make it a pleasant dream then, hmm?" She murmured, kissing him, working to undress him.

He kissed her back, sliding his hands up her sides to remove her shirt, feeling the lean, smooth body underneath.

"Hope 'm not too drunk," he mumbled as his shirt came off.

"You won't be," she promised him, nuzzling his chest and fit abs, running her hands down his body to undo his pants. "Mmm ... such a handsome man."

"Beautiful, always so beautiful," Taggart murmured and claimed her mouth. He could feel his body respond to her as nimble fingers unbuttoned his fatigue pants and pulled them down to expose him to the cool air and her body's heat.

"Always for you," she whispered, kissing him again and pushing him back to the bed, straddling his hips. It didn't take long to caress him to full hardness and guide him into her wet body.

She relished his moan, thrilled to her core at the energy he held for her in his pleasure and his seed. This would be the best feast she'd had in ages, and he would offer so much more before she added him to her garden forever.

"Love you," he moaned as he thrust into her, his body taking it's sweet time in coming to the edge.

She leaned down, kissing him hungrily as she moved along his body, working the inside of her sex around his stiff member. It took a bit more focus to keep the spell going just now, but she wanted to make sure his mind was fully off who he was with before giving in to it.

She made a sharp breath in and screamed as many sharp things buried themselves into her ass.

"What?" Taggart's eyes snapped open even as the illusion faded. "What the _Hell_ are you doing?" he snarled in outrage and shoved her off. "Lojak? What are _you_ doing here?"

The mutt looked at him, rolled his eyes a bit, and woofed.

"What does it look like, getting you out of here before your pups are full-grown!"

"Sparkly-lady doing something wrong?" Ress asked as she poked her head in the door.

"Yes," Taggart turned and clocked her squarely in the jaw as she started to get up. "Got me drunk and used magic to make me think she was Jo," he said in disgust, almost falling over when he reached for his clothes.

"You're moving funny," Ress pointed out.

"That's because she got him drunk," Lojack sighed as Belinda looked in to see what was happening.

"You've got company coming quickly," the young woman said, moving back away from the door.

"Get dressed; you can explain to them?" Lojack asked hopefully.

"Yes," Taggart nodded and struggled to get dressed before the cavalry arrived, then gave up in disgust and went to greet them at the door. It wasn't as if any of them wore clothing anyway. "I am sorry," he leaned against the doorframe, looking outside. "The canine was helping me keep my word to another."

"His companion was using magic," Lojack woofed.

"Illusion magic ... we'll see to it that she's taken somewhere to have her bite taken care of, and not allowed near you again," the Bigfoot male from earlier said easily. "Are you all right?"

"Yes, thank you. I believe I am only rather drunk at this point, so I can sleep it off," Taggart explained to them. "I regret causing the disturbance."

"It is understandable ... lucky for you that you did, really. Her kind can be trouble sometimes."

"Thank you for the warning, I will be much more careful next time," he promised. "I will be going to bed now, if you do not mind, and sleep the drink off."

"That will be fine," he nodded. "We will come for you again when we are ready to try and access your world."

Taggart nodded tiredly, practically falling back into the bed as the alcohol he'd drunk got to him completely.

"Strong stuff," Belinda murmured as she glanced in briefly. "If it put him under." She sat down outside his room, more comfortable there than in the settlement with its numerous massive, furry humanoids.

"Very, and much of it," Lojack agreed and settled down next to her while Ress stayed inside near Taggart's bed.

"You think we'll be able to get home while the people we know are still alive?" She asked him, reaching down to scritch his ears almost on reflex.

"I think so," he woofed and pressed into the contact a bit. "Time isn't flowing right here. Not as slow as it should be."

"Probably because it's closer to our world," she murmured. "God I hope you're right ... the boys must be worried sick ... and here I am, getting advice from a dog," she half-laughed, shaking her head. "No offense."

"None taken," he told her. "I do have an IQ of 130. I am not a poor source of information."

"I know," she murmured. "Y'know... you're pretty nice, whatever might get said about you around town," she smiled down at him. "So, what's happened since I've been gone? Didn't have much time to talk after you two showed up at the palace."

"More fairies have been found, several strange things have appeared, and the cat-people are mating just about everywhere," he snorted. "You have not been gone long."

"That's good," she nodded. "I knew I'd been shifted back in time, just not sure how far... after the first couple days, I'd pretty much given up on getting back and recognizing what I'd left behind."

"I think you will," he looked up at her. "I do not believe a full season has passed among the humans yet. Less than a set of them at most."

"You have Taggart to back up your statement as well," he added. "The entire area has been dealing with the sparkly-people since you disappeared. It will not be difficult."

"Any better ideas what caused this all to start?" She asked him. "I'm still not sure about the idea that it's purely random, myself."

"Usually some invention does these things," he gave a canine shrug. "Sheriff will find and fix it. It is what he does."

"At least the things here are friendly," she nodded slightly. "For what it's worth... if you ever need somewhere to stay, you can add our house to the list of places you've got," she offered.

"Thank you," he woofed and wagged his tail. "Old Sheriff has nice roof too. Nice to have another one."

"If I'm not too busy, maybe I'll even be able to make up something for you to eat sometimes," she chuckled. "I imagine dog food gets old fast."

"I don't eat dog food," he barked a laugh. "Old Sheriff always has food in the fridge."


	26. Just Trying to Go Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When their hard-won afternoon picnic is interrupted by Mini-Spawn, the SWAT Kats actually have something resembling a normal MKC-type day, but it's what Jake discovers nearly a month later that really rattles the threesome.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written with Karl Wolfemann

"How long has it been since we've had the chance to just come out and get some R&R?" Marie asked with a happy sigh as she lay back on the picnic blanket they'd set up not the lake's shore. "And to let you play in the water for a while," she added with a wink over at Jake.

"Which you had me on before food and company was mentioned," he grinned back and leaned over for a kiss. "We had some very incredible times in there."

"Some scary ones too, but I think we've given up on trying to keep you from getting yourself killed," Chance chuckled. "Are you guys _sure_ you want to trust me to do this?" He asked, setting up the grill.

"This is where I confess and say that I've got backup in the trunk, courtesy of the Cafe Diem," Marie giggled. "But I figure it's worth trying to see if you're better at grilling than at the usual cooking. A lot of guys I've met are."

"Hey, it involves fire, explosives and large chunks of meat," Jake grinned at him. "What can go wrong?"

"You did _not_ just say that," Chance and Marie both groaned, rolling their eyes.

"See, nothing happened," Jake laughed and rolled to his back, enjoying the blue sky and dappled sunlight. "It'll be fine."

"Who are you, and what have you done with Jake?" Chance chuckled as he got the grill fired up, putting the lid on before returning to snuggle with the others, letting it heat up for the steaks. "You're supposed to be the paranoid one."

"Not about your ability to handle the heat," Jake purred and turned on his side to claim a kiss. "I left my paranoia in the lab today."

"Good place for it," Chance purred, reaching up to stroke Jake's cheek as he deepened the kiss and pressed Jake back to the ground. The move was met with willing surrender as Jake ran his hands along his mate's sides and pressed hard body against hard body in an erotically familiar rhythm to them both.

Marie leaned back a bit, purring as the two toms started to rub and grind against each other, not even undressing yet.

Then she became keenly aware of the sound of something large in the lake, and turned to see what it was.

"Jake? You should've brought it with you for once," she said, staring in shocked amazement at the massive creature rising from the water. Its green, bulbous body was topped off with a massive head, octopus-like tentacles where its face should have been.

If its head was any indication, it was probably a solid seventy feet tall.

"Holy...." Chance's eyes went wide even as both toms scrambled for their cyclotrons and the weapons, and maneuverability, they represented. "Move, Marie!" he yelled at her when she didn't get up as fast.

"Let's get out of here!" She agreed, scrambling to her feet and running to jump up behind Jake on his Cyclotron before they peeled away.

"How the fuck can something that big fit in the lake?" Chance asked incredulously as they made their way towards the road.

"Same way trees turn into asparagus," Jake said and keyed up the police band. "Carter, Jo, _anybody_. There is a big and ugly standing up from the lake. We will come with Blackie, but have to get her first."

"On the way," Jo responded quickly. "Description? How big are we talking?"

"Sixty feet tall," Jake told her after a glance back to confirm that the original estimate was still holding. "Humanoid with a tentacled head."

"Holy ...." Carter's voice reacted. "Jo, do we have anything for that?"

"Oh _yeah_ ," Jo said, her grin almost audible over the radio.

"When you get that look, I start wondering if the city has enough blast insurance," Carter murmured as the sound of Jo working through the armory was heard in the background. "Hey, how come you've never shown me that rack before?"

"Because, technically, only Sheriff Cobb is supposed to know it's there," Jo said. "Now come here, I'll show you how to fire this one...." The radios cut out, leaving Jake, Chance, and Marie to their escape.

"Okay, I was _worried_ about the monster, but _now_ I'm scared," Marie observed.

"Don't worry, we'll be here to take care of things," Chance assured her over the com link between their helmets. "If Carter can fire it, it's can't be _that_ serious a weapon."

"Unless, of course, she's teaching him because it takes two of them to fire it," she pointed out. "Do you guys want to drop me off in town before you go for Blackie?"

"You'd be safer in the lair at our place," Jake countered. "Not as likely a target, and better reinforced."

Back in town, Jo was finishing the instructions for the Sheriff.

"Remember; you have to be sure to key in the combination before you hit the safety or the power cell ejects," she explained as they finished loading the large cannon into the back of her cruiser.

"What sort of gun has a combination lock?" Carter asked her, not for the first time.

"The sort that was built to take out Eureka's tanks," she answered matter-of-factly.

"Speaking of, are any of them coming to help?" he asked uneasily.

"Possible, but unlikely unless we can't stop this thing," Jo said easily. "They'd rather not mobilize prototypes."

"I was afraid of that," he signed. "Any clue what this thing is?"

"Hard to tell," Jo murmured as it approached from the woods. "Looks like Sushi's Revenge to me...."

"Holy... Eureka's being attacked by Cthulhu?" Fargo asked incredulously as he pulled up in his car.

"Cuth-what?" Carter asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked over at Fargo. "And what are you doing here?"

"Until it hits a hundred feet tall, Dr. Stark doesn't have to be on-scene, so he sent me," Fargo explained. "And Cthulhu, ancient sorcerer-god created by H.P. Lovecraft."

"Couldn't possibly be," Henry countered from where he was watching by the cafe. "Not unless the size estimate was off by three hundred feet or more. Still, have to wonder how it gets past the square/cube principle...."

"Ancient sorcerer-god," Fargo pointed out, looking up at it again. "At any rate, that much harder to believe than fairies?"

"Okay, _everyone_ , pointers on _stopping_ it please," Carter broke up the pending debate with a pleading groan.

"If you can't blow him up, you're pretty much stuck hoping for whatever cosmic alignment let him wake up shifting and putting him back to sleep," Fargo said.

"I'd opt for blowing him up, myself," Henry said helpfully. "Since we don't know if it's a proper alignment in the first place, what with the other phenomena going on around here."

"So, finish breaking out the plasma cannon?" Jo asked cheerfully, heading around back already.

"There are days ....." Carter shook his head and followed his deputy.

"You're looking forward to firing it as much as I am and you know it," Jo pointed out as they started pulling it out and setting it up. "By the way, the Kats are back and waiting for our results to get Blackie into the air."

Carter stopped and stared at her, then over his shoulder to where Henry was seated, though there were two walls in the way at the moment. "You get the heavy artillery ready. I have an idea."

"What's the plan?" Henry asked, getting up when Carter approached him with that look on his face.

"Let's try to talk to it," he said. "Your translator worked on the Kats, maybe it'll work on big and tentacled over there."

"It's worth a shot," Henry nodded, heading over to his truck to pull it out of the glove compartment and tossing it over to the Sheriff as everybody in the creature's path drove away from it... fortunately, it wasn't moving fast enough to be a _major_ threat just yet. It just had an unfortunate habit of picking up trees or cars and crushing them casually before discarding them, like some sort of bizarre toys.

Carter grabbed the microphone from his jeep and spoke into the translator, with the microphone on the far side.

"Stop," he said as loudly as he could, hoping a simple concept with an obvious behavior to show understanding would be a good start.

Unfortunately, simple and obvious as it was, it didn't seem to be doing more than attracting the next discarded car his way; it smashed into the pavement next to him, the alarm blaring as 'Mini-Spawn,' as Henry and Fargo were agreeing to call it, continued down Main Street.

"Can I shoot it now?" Jo asked, the anti-Eureka tank device on her shoulder.

"Yes," Carter sighed and scrambled to get out of the way.

"Great," Jo nodded, typing in the combo and flipping the safety, the barrel glowing an angry red before she hit the cannon's firing button. The blast blistered the paint on her cruiser as it flew through the air, impacting the Mini-Spawn squarely in the face and spreading out over its body. There was a howl of pain, and the next truck smashed into the _cab_ of her cruiser, bending the cannon forward and damaging the barrel.

"I'd call out SWAT," she said, backing away from the smashed car and leaving the weapon behind.

"No kidding," Carter muttered under his breath.

"We heard, and saw," Razor's voice came over the open coms. "Let's see what he's vulnerable too," he said as a series of missiles launched from the sleek black jet in a staggered progression so their effects could be considered before the next hit.

The electricity seemed to make it pause, but not to actually hurt it. The following missiles were even less effective; the cement and nets seemed to cause some hesitation, but it was more because it wasn't moving too quickly forward than because they were actually hurting it. The incendiary missile they finished up with seemed to have the most effect, but even as the napalm burned the blistering flesh caused by the plasma blast was healing, so it was hard to tell just how long that damage would last.

"We're running out of options," Razor warned both sides as he launched his last missile, a screamer.

"We're trying to come up with new ones," Carter replied as the sonic missile shrieked at the target, only to be snagged by a long tentacle and hurled back at the Turbokat.

"Not good," T-Bone said as they dodged, only to be blindsided by a tentacle that ripped the right wing clean off. "Getting us clear and down, we're out of the fight."

" _Shit_ ," Carter swore under his breath as the jet flew off towards the forest, trying to find a safe place to crash. "Henry, any other ideas?" He asked.

"Not yet," the black man admitted, hopping into his truck and getting ready to take off.

"Jo, get those prototype tanks out here, along with anything else you can round up from anyone," Carter ordered and looked around, trying to think of something he could do to help.

"Would you stop with the burning now?" A burbling blend of voices demanded from far, far above him. "It stings!" He looked up... it _was_ coming from the direction of the creature. 

Maybe the translator had started working?

"Will you stop throwing things?" Carter asked through the megaphone.

"Nothing big enough to throw these weak toys away in," the Mini-Spawn pointed out. "Then you yelped, shot phased plasma at me, electrocuted me, and set me on fire."

"He... _does_ kinda have a point... I suppose." Fargo murmured.

Carter nodded reluctantly and clicked his radio on. "Jo, you there, over."

"This is Jo; they're getting the tanks set up, weren't expecting to have to call them out. They're hoping you can hold it off for another ten minutes or so; over?"

"We are talking with it now, so hold off on those tanks, and anything else," Carter ordered. "Over."

"Right. Just remember that _it_ started throwing trees and cars first," she reminded him. "Over."

"About that... we're also getting complaints about insufficient garbage cans," Carter muttered. "Over, and out," he added, clicking it off.

"All right," he turned his focus back to the megaphone and translator. "We've stopped burning you, and you've stopped throwing things. That's a great start. Now, would you tell me what you are here for?"

"I saw some light come in through the water and got curious. You don't get much light at the bottom of the ocean. Next thing I knew, there were trees everywhere, and people going away on noisy vehicles. I thought I'd look around for a bit. Things up here break too easily you know?"

"I have noticed," Carter sighed. "You came out of a lake, not the ocean. Would you mind going back to your home soon?"

"I suppose ... I don't suppose there are any up-to-date, waterproof star charts I could take along, are there?"

"Henry?" Carter glanced at him.

"Give me twenty minutes and I'll have them," he promised and took off in his truck.

"They're being printed out now," Carter turned back to the creature. "Do you have a name I can call you? I'm Jack Carter."

"The name that I use is difficult to translate," their guest explained, before letting out a gutteral stream of sounds, some seemingly spoken in a dozen different sounds at once. True to his word, the translator had no clue how to handle it.

"The closest that a human language matches would be 'Watches For Strange Times,'" he offered.

"Thank you, Watches for Strange Times," Carter said. "Why don't we head back to the lake where you emerged and wait for the maps?"

"Very well," he nodded, his massive head moving slowly as he turned and started back through the path he'd knocked out on his way in.

"Well, that was strange," Charter shook his head and got in his jeep to follow.

* * *

Meanwhile, out in the woods, T-Bone was growling as he looked over the damage to the TurboKat from the crash and the wing being removed.

"For the love of... okay, two crashes in _one_ year is too much for my tastes," he growled lowly. "Any word from Carter on what's happening back in town?" He asked Razor.

"It seems to have settled down. The translator started to work, and it was willing to leave for a few waterproof star maps," Razor told him absently as he began to make repairs, not even thinking that they weren't alone in getting everything base to base anymore.

"Oh, wonderful, it couldn't have done that _before_ ripping the wing off the TurboKat?" T-Bone groaned. "Should I see if we can get somebody out here with a truck to get us to a base? Don't know about you, but I'd like more than the field welding kit since we can get it now."

Razor stilled briefly. "Yeah, Henry would be helpful getting her back home."

"I'll make the call ... anything badly damaged besides the wing?" T-Bone asked, pulling out his communicator and hooking it in to contact Henry.

"Looks like she survived fairly well outside of the obvious," he nodded. "It'll still take a while before she'll fly again."

"Better than the time Dark Kat blew her up at least... Hell, better than the job Melody did taking out the rudder on the last one," he murmured, calling in for the pickup. "Going to be a half hour or so, it seems... Henry's printing out the star maps for tall dark and ugly."

"No problem," Razor sighed and began to dig around inside the jet to work on as much as he could. "I'll have a full assessment of the damage by then."

"That can wait," T-Bone pointed out, hopping out of the cockpit and coming back to his mate, wrapping his arms around him from behind. "Right now, I just want you here for a bit."

Razor's body read his confusion for a moment, but he soon relaxed and willingly sat down against their crashed jet and into his mate's arms.

"That was close, wasn't it?" Razor murmured.

"The things you _don't_ see when you're the gunner, instead of the pilot," T-Bone chuckled, hugging Razor close and nuzzling his neck. "Yeah... it was though. Losing the whole wing... we should've gone down right there."

"The VTOL engines, the last upgrade designed them to kick in at a catastrophic loss of aerodynamic," Razor smiled softly. "They weren't enough, but it got us this far."

"About what it felt like," T-Bone smiled. "So, you've saved both our necks again... lemme guess, put that in after the production model one went crazy on us?"

"Yap," he chuckled and let his head rest against T-Bone's broad chest. "We both _really_ need to learn to eject again."

"We do fine," T-Bone smiled faintly. "Now shu, we survived."

* * *

* * *

* * *

Jake leaned forward to kiss Chance, his hands exploring the powerful body next to his. As long as he had known this body, as partner, then friend, then lover, then mate, he never tired of just exploring Chance with his hands and mouth. Tonight, Chance even seemed to be in the mood to let it go on for some time.

It left Jake in a state approaching joy. For the first time in nearly a month they'd both made the time to spend it alone. The TurboKat was all but repaired and all their various projects were going well enough, or badly enough, that they could take the day off together and not feel bad about it.

"You're thinking again," Chance purred, nuzzling Jake's neck and running his own hands down the lean tom's back. "Mmm ... anything worth talking about?"

"Yes, but not before we're both sated," he kissed the tabby's nose playfully. "I'll try not to think until then."

"Mmm... I _seem_ to remember a few of the more entertaining ways to make sure you _can't_ ," Chance grinned.

"I'm all yours tonight, love," he purred and claimed a lingering kiss. "Just for you, tonight," he added with a breath and kissed his way down the tabby's neck. 

"Good," the tabby rumbled throatily, shifting to press Jake to his back on the couch, the movie that was playing long forgotten as he kissed his mate hungrily. He never was sure whether it was the unmistakably hard desire or compliant softness that turned him on more, and usually when the thought crossed his mind he didn't care to ponder it long enough to figure it out.

He reached down, undoing Jake's belt and working it out.

"Put your hands above your head," he grinned. "Think we ought to get back to basics a bit tonight."

"Sounds very good," Jake shivered in anticipation and raised his arms, his hands dangling over the arm of the couch even as her slid one leg off the couch to open his body up for his lover's desires. "I know you can feel how much I want you, no kinks at all," he moaned and pressed his hard-on against his lover's as he was kissed down his neck.

"Yeah, but I'm in the mood to indulge you a _little_ bit," Chance winked, kissing him and bringing Jake's belt around to tie his wrists, looping the leather through itself to make it harder for the lean tom to free his hands. "I love you, Jake," he rumbled deeply, meaning it to his core.

"I love you, Chance," Jake said, still a little awkward with it despite how many times he had said and meant it.

The tabby took the awkwardness away with a kiss before standing up, stripping his pants off and rubbing his erection against Jake's jean-clad hip for a brief moment before undoing the jeans and pulling them off, leaving Jake in his shirt and underwear.

He climbed back onto the sofa, between Jake's legs, rubbing his shaft against Jake's trapped hard-on and grinned down at Jake when he whimpered shamelessly.

"Keep that up and I'll cream my shorts," Jake moaned, rather turned on by the idea.

"That's the plan," Chance grinned, pulling Jake's briefs to the side, turning the tent over his shaft into a tight outline around the bulge as he moved down to press up into Jake's body with a low moan of pleasure, holding his briefs out of the way until he'd hilted in his mate's body.

"Oh _yeah_!" Jake cried out in raw pleasure, his body tight around Chance's cock and his briefs rubbing his own with every thrust. "Mmm, want ... me to ... Ohh ... hold out?"

"Not a bit," Chance grinned, gripping his hips and starting to thrust, not wasting any time before shifting to hit his mate's prostate.

The yelp and ripple along Jake's body set the mood for it and Chance angled in and slammed into him with every move, his claws digging into Jake's hips just enough to really be felt with a few drops of blood.

It was all it took for Jake to roar, his seed soaking his briefs and oozing out of them as his body clamped down around Chance.

The tabby roared with him, pumping his own seed deep into Jake's ass. He didn't miss a beat though, keeping up his thrusts as Jake's seed soaked into his shorts and cooled against his sheath, shaft, and balls.

This kind of thing had once been a near-nightly occurrence, back before Eureka and Marie, and especially Lurin. Chance had to admit that he missed it, not just for the lack of the sex itself, but for the lack of other things. Even when they didn't get off, it was a fairly rare night that they didn't spend together, at least for a couple hours of close contact.

Now he wasn't the focus of Jake's life anymore, and he had to admit he missed it. Marie ... she was an honest boon most of the time. Lurin ... the guy could die and it wouldn't be soon enough. Those were people, though, and he could always handle people.

Eureka itself, that was another matter. On one hand, Jake was happier than Chance had ever known him. On the other, he wasn't _happy_ and no amount of working it over in his mind could make Jake seem happy for more than a few days at a time. It had given Jake what he had always thought he'd wanted, what had been stolen from him on Aristal, and every month that past, he was more and more depressed.

On top of it all, if they spent one night a week in the same bed, it was probably Marie's doing. Jake'd spend every day, all day, all night, in one lab or another, doing something. He wasn't hard to drag away, but he wasn't at all motivated to leave on his own.

At first, he'd thought it was the novelty of the fact that he _could_... but the more time went by, the more of an issue it became, so that possibility went out the window.

Of course, the fact that Lurin was spending an inordinate amount of time in Jake's office with the security cameras conveniently deactivated probably didn't help any. Hard to complain too much about _that_ , given how often Chance followed the example, but at least he had the sense to make sure Jake's work didn't suffer for it.

Not that it _was_ suffering... but he knew that if something went wrong, there was a good chance Jake could get himself fired. It just didn't _matter_ when Lurin was there and offering him what he had wanted so badly his entire adult life.

Chance shook his head, trying to force the dark-furred Xanith out of his head. Jake had said earlier that he was all his tonight... he wasn't about to let Lurin muscle in on _this_ time too.

He leaned forward, kissing Jake hungrily, wrapping an arm around him as they mated. Once he put his mind to it, instead of thinking, it was easy to focus on the here and now; the pleasure he was sharing with his partner and mate, and the fact that Jake loved him enough to desire him without the extras others offered.

Eventually Chance felt his balls tighten and the pleasant ache in his cock and knew this would be the last round for a while. The last two rounds he'd given Jake his personal favorite kind of torture; the lean tom had come hard and dry.

As his own balls emptied themselves into Jake's body, he moaned and laid down on top of his mate tiredly.

"I think we need a break," he murmured softly, nuzzling Jake and reaching up to untie his wrists. "Before you need a chisel to get those off," he teased, tugging the waistband on Jake's distinctly sticky shorts.

"That requires moving," Jake countered, more than a little exhausted himself.

"Taking the break doesn't," Chance chuckled, snuggling up with him. "We'll move in a few minutes." He purred deeply, pressing his face into Jake's neck and inhaling his scent deeply.

It was a pleasant way to relax and recover, but eventually Chance nuzzled Jake, kissing his neck. "So is this sated enough for spilling what you were thinking about earlier?"

"Mmm?" Jake focused with a bit of difficulty. "Oh yeah. We can go home. I found a way."

"How?" Chance asked, the thought still sinking into his head. "I... didn't even know you were working on that yet," he murmured.

"Even if it's only a body going back, I intend to be buried at home," Jake said softly. "The breakthrough that let it happen isn't mine. It's whatever's causing the Fay to be here as well."

"So we've only got so much time before we lose the chance, probably," Chance murmured, snuggling close. "Any idea how long? Does anybody else know?"

"A week, maybe a month. More than that and Earth as it is will begin to fall apart. No one else knows yet."

"Hold on, what's this about the Earth _falling apart_?" Chance asked, his body tensing up. "You're saying that what's going on could end up getting more serious?"

"Earth could end up the way it used to be, before its magic was removed to the Fairylands," Jake said softly. "It wouldn't be all that different from how MKC was when we left it, only better prepared in a warped way. Eureka did this, they'll undo it. The effects are too localized and too unstable to be a natural breaking down of the boarder."

"Okay... that's not quite what I think of when you say a planet's going to be falling apart," Chance chuckled weakly. "Still... means we'll have to do it soon, if we're going to, doesn't it?"

"If we have any intentions of doing it alive," Jake nodded weakly. "With the state of things now, we might make it. Once this area effect wears off, Blackie could still get us home, but not alive."

"Right," Chance murmured. "We... do have _some_ time to think though, right? I mean... we can't just spring it on Marie and tell her she's coming now or she's not coming, y'know?"

Despite his earlier thoughts and complaints about Jake and Eureka... Chance knew that _he'd_ need more time to think about it too. He just wasn't sure about saying it.

"We have a few days at least," Jake nodded. "Think about whether you stay without me too. I want to go home."

" _No_ ," Chance said, firmly, with the tone that said he was willing to fight if that was what it took. "Jake, I'm not going to stay here and send you back home alone."

"You won't be," he reached up and drew him down for a kiss. "I'm not going back to be alone, Chance. With or without you, I won't be alone. Choose for yourself, not for us."

"Jake...." Chance paused, hugging him tightly. "Jake, I don't think it makes a difference. We're mates... we're partners. How'm I supposed to live with myself in geek central without you around, huh?" He tried to joke. "Besides, if there's one of us who's got it better here than back home, it's got to be you. Still... let's try to think about it a bit, okay? At least give Marie the time. Gonna be a _lot_ harder question for her."

Jake frowned a bit. "You don't actually think she'd leave Earth."

"I think she deserves the chance to say no," Chance pointed out. "I mean... y'never know, right? She might go for it. We've had weirder things happen," he chuckled slightly.

"I guess so," he didn't really manage to conceal how weird an idea that was to him.

"Let's just let _her_ be the one to look at us like we're crazy and try talking us into staying," Chance murmured, nuzzling his neck. "After all... Aristal is basically the place she's always _wanted_ to be, if you think about it."

"I guess so," Jake repeated, still unable to grasp her going through with it, but not about to argue that it was her choice to make and she deserved the opportunity to make as fully informed a choice as possible.

"Let's worry about it more later," Chance murmured, kissing Jake's neck lightly. "So... want to get out of your briefs finally, then we'll see about how we spend the rest of the night?" He half-grinned.

"Oh yeah," Jake grinned up and shifted his legs together as Chance pulled out of him. The seed-soaked cloth was tossed aside in short order and Jake curled forward to claim a kiss. "Mmm, so think maybe I can get a turn on top tonight?"

"I was just about to suggest that," Chance grinned. "Bedroom first?"

"Sounds good," Jake purred and kissed his mate before sliding from the couch to walk to their bedroom with Chance's hand in his.

* * *

Marie sniffed the air as she approached what she had come to think of as s her home. It smelled of roasting meat and sweets; the kind of spread that happened when something big was about to go down, be it confession or question.

"Guys?" She asked curiously. "What's up?" She'd expected them to be in the middle of enjoying their morning alone yet ... not that she was going to object to a good meal, but she was wondering what had led to the change of plans.

"Hay," Jake poked his head around the corner from the kitchen. "Good timing. Chance hasn't burned anything yet."

"Please tell me he's not actually cooking," she gigged. "So, you boys finally get tired and decide to eat?"

"Just warming a couple things up, but you know him," Jake laughed and stepped forward to hug and kiss her in welcome. "We knew you'd be home, and there are things to talk about," he said more seriously.

"My Mom and Cindy haven't managed to drive you to call off the wedding, have they?" Marie joked, not sure what it was that Jake might be getting more serious about. She returned the kiss, hugging him tightly for a moment. "Seriously though, what is it?"

"No. I found a way for us to go home," he explained very quickly, hoping to get her seated and food presented before too many questions happened.

"You have?" She asked, her throat tightening at the thought. She tried not to show her reaction, but she wasn't particularly good at it. "Uhm... how?"

"Using the current situation, information from our dimensional radar, Lurin's craft and Taggart's boombox, I can configure Blackie to create an intentional breach that leads to Aristal."

"So it would _definitely_ be a one-way trip, wouldn't it?" She murmured. "How soon?"

"Yes, and a few days, possibly a couple weeks," he said quietly. "Not long."

"That's what I was afraid of," she murmured, leaning back in the chair to absorb the news and what it meant while the guys gave her some space and put the meal on the table. Heavy in comfort food for each of them, she had little doubt that this wasn't an easy choice for them either.

"Do you have any way of telling whether or not the opportunity's going to pass you by?" She asked Jake quietly once they'd all sat down.

"It involves the current instability in the area," Jake said. "It won't last."

"I was just wondering if you had a way of knowing when it was about to end," she sighed. "Okay... just so you two know, I don't blame you for wanting to go back at all. So if my mood takes a turn for the worst in the next couple days, it's not you guys."

"We know," Chance reached over to squeeze her hand. "It's not an easy choice for us. Eureka's not a bad place."

"No, it's not," she chuckled slightly. "And I know you guys don't think it is either... but it's not home either, for either of you. So, is this your going-away dinner?"

"Actually... this is our 'breaking the news' dinner," Chance told her. "We'd like to give you a little time... think about whether or not you want to come too."

"Really?" She asked him... though she looked straight at Jake when she asked it.

"We have a few days," he nodded. "The difference between one and four in the jet is negligible. I'm still converting cash to gold and gems as well."

"And trying to keep it quiet, I imagine," she nodded slightly, taking a deep breath. "I _want_ to come with you, but I don't think I really can, unless things take off a lot faster than I expect them to."

Chance looked between them. "You'd come if ... what changed?"

"My work," she explained softly. "I'm... damn it, I'm probably six months, maybe a year away from _proving_ that the original Doctors Moreau were the flukes, not my Dad. The Moreaus will be the family that cured AIDS, instead of the villains in a horror novel that inspired Brando's biggest flop. It's just... too _close_ for me to drop it all," she said apologetically.

"So what if this effect we need is what Jo thinks ... that it's created by somebody in Eureka, a human?" Chance suggested. "What if the conditions could be recreated when we are ready?"

"That's one big if," Jake said warily.

"But it's one that, in Eureka, isn't _near_ as big as it should be... and as I understand it, the fairies agree," Marie murmured. "Jake... I'm going to ask what might be a stupid question, but I really do want an answer. You've been gone from MKC for a long time now, and it _sounds_ like the life you had there was pretty low on the list of the things you wanted. Here... you've got Global, you've got Chance, you've _both_ got jobs you like... and you've got me, which I _hope_ counts for something. What is it about MKC that you want to go back to? Having more kats around?"

He hesitated, then shook his head. "The two things I have left to do. Have kittens, and die."

"You've got a _lot_ more left to your life that that," Chance protested, looking over at Jake, his tail fluffed out in distress.

"You're talking about the part that happens in between," Jake shook his head and caught his mate's tail to smooth it out. "I'm talking about the important parts; what Bastet ordered me to do before she'd stop sending me back to get the damn thing right. More than anything, though, I will _not_ die out here and be trapped until another Kat comes through and manages to open a permanent portal. I know you don't believe in it much, but I've gone face to face with Bastet and Halikar and they are real. The whole cruddy soul and afterlife and their power in it's real."

Chance took a deep breath, trying to make himself calm down.

"Sorry... it just sounded like you were talking about trying to go back, make sure you had kittens coming, and then _trying_ to end it," he said with a shudder. "You've been too close to that last one too often."

"I know," Jake signed and reached over to squeeze his hand. "I'm not going to pretend the idea doesn't still have an appeal ... knowing I've got eternity coming and if She's finally happy with me I get to stay with the good parts of life and not that bad ... it's hard to see the point in flesh sometimes."

"Better subject... what if I could give you the kittens... and maybe your whole family?" Marie asked, trying to change the topic before it got into a more protracted argument. Once Jake got into theology it got intense and immobile in a big hurry. "Not here, but there."

Jake's full focus snapped onto her and locked there. It gave Marie an uneasy feeling that this is what his targets would see if they could view the back cockpit in a firefight.

"You know what's wrong with us?"

"I've only got you as a reference point, and it's not wrong with you yet," she pointed out, shaking her head. "Though my guess is just a matter of sterility due to age... kind of like menopause in human females. That aside, I _can_ guarantee kittens. Your cells behave properly... they do everything they're supposed to. The only issue with giving you kittens _here_ is that you've got a basic, fundamental incompatibility with terran DNA; the acids are all wrong. On Aristal... pick the fem, and if I can get a DNA sample I can give you kittens with her, biologically," Marie said, calmly and with all the confidence her training and experience had given her.

"She'd give birth, or lab-grown?" Jake asked, both extremely excited and instinctively revolted at the same time by this concept of kittens without sex.

"It'd be a _hell_ of a lot easier to do it with her giving birth," Marie admitted. "The science is... well, it's a lot more complicated than it sounds, but basically I'd just have to take normal cells, convert them to behave like sex cells, and then it's a matter of standard artificial insemination."

"I'm not sure that works with Kats," Jake said uncertainly. "I've never heard of it, and I would have expected my mother to have jumped on that possibility. She's been trying to get me to agree to an arranged mating for years."

"I'm assuming that female kats are a lot like cats around Earth," Marie admitted. "But there are ways around it, and I know most of them. In a worst case scenario, I'd arrange for a viable cell combination in the lab, get it to the point where it had expanded to a couple cells, and then arrange for implantation in the mother's womb... it'll be a _lot_ easier if somebody's willing to help the mother get off, best if it's you," she explained.

"I'm to the point I'm willing to do it the old-fashioned way," he sort of chuckled. "I think I can manage that much."

"Then I can definitely do it for you, and probably for any other male in your family who wanted to ... it looks like everything should behave right, I just need more kats to work with."

"But I thought you couldn't work with Kat DNA," Chance pointed out. "Back when Jake was looking to turn himself into a kat-fish."

"I can't work with it with what's around here," Marie said, shaking her head. "Like I said, the basic structure between life on Aristal and life on Earth is just too different. Beyond that, everything seems to work the same, now that I've had a chance to examine it for a while ... and with what I can do with regular DNA, I _think_ I can make sure that sperm and egg go together right by now," she chuckled slightly.

"If you can make any cell turn into a sex cell ... could you make it work for two females?" Jake asked as his mind stumbled across something that really caught his interest. "A female too old as the sire and a young one as the mother."

"Every kit would be a daughter, no way around it, but I _should_ be able to," Marie nodded.

"You would have just made my mother's life," he chuckled softly.

"With an egg, I _might_ be able to make it work for two guys too," she added, glancing between Jake and Chance, and saw that the idea had definitely crossed Jake's mind, but he hadn't gone past that to any expectation it could work. "But I've never tried anything like that for _several_ reasons."

"You could?" Chance asked, more than a little stunned. "Jake ... and I ... a kit that was from both of us?"

"Only toms from that, or a mix?" Jake asked as he tried hard to remember enough of his biology classes to have any more of this conversation.

"A mix," Marie said easily. "Assuming that males control the gender, like they do with humans. If it's female gender control, then it would be the other way around, and if it's mixed... well, then it's a moot point," she chuckled slightly. "The problem would probably be in preventing a bond that wouldn't be viable. That's the biggest problem with it for humans... I've never wanted to risk missing a pure double-Y just for the sake of experimentation."

"I think we can skip the fact neither of us have a clue what you just said," Chance chuckled weakly. "So you want to come, but only after you've cleared your family name. Jake won't risk being stuck here the rest of his life, and I'm going with him, whenever that happens. So the only part I know about preventing it all from working is we don't know for sure how to recreate the current conditions, right?"

"You're really putting your reputation at risk, you know?" Jake snickered. "Yes, that sums it up. If I can get my hands on what created this, and can make it happen again, I'll hold off."

"So why don't you have Blackie or Sting focus on poking through the computers of the scientists into dimensional research?" Marie suggested quietly. "They might be able to find something."

"Maybe," he nodded thoughtfully.

"Already on it," Blackie said through the house sound system.

Chance scowled, but kept his mouth shut about how creepy he found the whole AI thing.

"For what it's worth, they aren't compatible with the security systems, so they can't watch," Marie giggled. "In the interests of my Mom not trying to kill us, think we can still try to have the wedding before we leave, if we can recreate the conditions necessary?"

"Yes," Jake nodded. "I've never tried to get out of it, Marie. I just will go home."

"Trust me, Jake, I realize that you have _far_ easier ways to get out of it than going to an entirely different world," she smiled slightly and reached over to squeeze his hand. It made it all too clear that he wasn't nearly as calm about all this as he seemed. He was determined, but he wasn't happy. "And like I said, I understand entirely... in the same position, I'd probably do the same, honestly."

"So ... assuming this doesn't work and we only have a few days, any preferences?" Chance suggested with a rather lewd grin.

"Chance!" Jake objected.

"What?" he looked at his mate with a shrug. "It's a valid question."

"Think there'd be enough time for a short camping trip out to Crater Lake?" Marie asked after a few moments thought. "Some time to ourselves, out somewhere that's worth seeing."

It was hard to miss how hard Jake had to work not to choke on his panic at the idea, even as he really tried to say yes.

"We don't ...." Marie started, not expecting that reaction at all.

"I'm sorry, I'd never ...," he dropped his eyes with a sigh. "I'd be a nervous wreck, Marie. Without knowing if conditions were ending or that I could recreate them. I'd go, but I don't think it would be the time you want it to be."

"That's fine," she said, reaching over to squeeze his hand. "I understand, Jake. So... something more local, just some time to the three of us? Let Lurin know that there's a chance to get back home, but then leave him to his own devices, while the three of us be together."

"The lake here holds a lot of good memories," he suggested with a smile and drew her hand up for a kiss. "Maybe try for a few more? I'll make sure Lurin knows that we're on vacation, just the three of us."

"Sounds good to me," she smiled back, squeezing his hand. "I'll make sure everything at the lab is set up for a few days on their own."

"And I'll make sure we remember the comms so Blackie can call us if we get a hit," Chance added.

"I'll let Carter and Stark know where we'll be," Jake nodded. "So ... eat what we have here and start setting it up?"

"Sounds good to me," Chance grinned, the three of them finally settling in to eat their cooling meal.


	27. Hard Won Victories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Chance finally gets into Lurin's secret workshop, it's just what he expected, and far more than he was prepared to deal with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written with Karl Wolfemann

Chance had decided long ago that he could probably _sleep_ while he was bypassing Lurin's security; it was good, but not nearly up to Jake's standards. And, given that he could generally break through _that_....

Of course, the problem was that he _couldn't_ break through the lock on Lurin's basement so easily. It was something he'd found out very soon after starting to go around the Xanith's place, looking for evidence to convince Jake that he was bad news. And, a couple weeks later, mere days before they were going to head back to MegaKat City, he'd decided that it was time to pull it off.

After all ... if he was _this_ paranoid about his _basement_... well, people with a taste for torture and heavily secured, private rooms were a bad combination to have in a boyfriend, Chance had always thought. He just had to figure out _how_ bad a combination.

He frowned as he tried to work through the last lock. It was the same one he'd gotten stuck on the first time ... a physical lock that should have gone down easily. But for whatever reason....

It came to him in a flash, and only long habit of keeping quiet when he was breaking into a place - _especially_ when he didn't have the justification of being after his own stuff - kept him from groaning as he laid down on the floor and found the lock at the bottom of the door. How the Hell he could get to the lock when he needed to get down, he didn't know, but that was what made it brilliant, in a way.

Nobody would expect a guy over seven feet tall to have a lock at ground level.

Chance got through it quickly, then stood up, quietly slipping in. He had to look around here before Lurin could get home.

His first glance around sent chills down his spine and nearly sent him bolting home for his full SWAT gear. Creeplings, the missing items ... the general feel of a dungeon machine shop the size of a blimp hanger were all bad enough.

It was what stood at the center of the space that razed all the fur on his body. A Dark Kat Dreadnought, complete with insignia, dominated the space he was looking down into.

As much as part of him was saying to get out, to go get Jake and take the TurboKat out to detonate the entire place, he knew that he'd need some proof. If not for Jake, then at least for Carter and Jo afterwards.

He started down into the dug-out space. How the place had been dug so quickly... and how Dark Kat had gotten so many Creeplings here, when he had nobody with him when he'd arrived.

"Damn it, being right _sucks_ ," Chance muttered quietly to himself as he approached the Dreadnought. It was a simple one... relatively simple, at any rate. Not like the Black Widow had been; it was more like a flying saucer. It was still all Dark Kat though, and he had to find enough proof to cover his tail with the folks who would not want to believe him.

So inside the dreadnought he went, against all his better judgment, to find something damning to bring back with him.

He followed a group of Creeplings in, ducking into a side corridor before anybody could see him. He would've killed for his Glovatrix, but as it was, all he could do was dart from cover to cover, dodging Creeplings, looking for something that could give him the evidence he needed... maybe if he could find a spare wardrobe of Dark Kat's... assuming he had one. A Creepling wouldn't work, especially since grabbing one would send up an alarm he couldn't afford. Never mind that everyone already knew they were here and assumed it wasn't Dark Kat's doing.

Maybe the generator that was stolen? It'd be just what was needed to power this thing, and it had a serial number that could be traced.

Pain in the ass to move, but he'd done worse.

He started following the sound of power systems, assuming that it would be the best way to find it. There'd be another advantage too... without the reactor, the entire thing would be useless.

Hell, that'd be a load off his mind right there.

As he found the engine room, he couldn't help but marvel at the fact that the entire ship was powered by something roughly the size of a large ottoman. The engine itself was larger, much larger, the reactor blocked behind hundreds of pounds of metal. It would take him some time to get through to it.

Ah well, it was what he had to do, he shrugged and went to work, dividing his attention between getting to the reactor and keeping an ear open for anything coming that might discover him too early.

"Skeeekk!" something made a shrill sound behind him and he cursed a moment of inattention.

His claws popped out as the first Creepling shrieked for help and charged at him. He grabbed it, throwing it against the wall and diving for a collection of loose tools, grabbing for anything he could use as a weapon against the approaching horde of creatures.

His mind turned from the coming fight to how to get out of the ship and lair. He couldn't let himself be captured, especially not now. Who knew what Lurin would manage to do with Jake without him around to object.

Chance shuddered and clobbered the next two creeplings as the idea of Dark Kat and Razor on the same side, and what they could do to a world that had no idea how to deal with their kind of genius or insanity.

He _wanted_ to believe that Jake wouldn't go for it... that Razor wouldn't. But as much as it killed him to admit it, he wasn't sure that he could trust his partner that much, not around Lurin....

Especially not if the Xanith tried to pin his disappearance or death on somebody from Eureka.

One of the Creeplings managed to get the heavy wrench he'd been using away from him; he grabbed one of the little monsters by the leg and threw it into a bunch of them, sending them tumbling to the ground, but he knew it wouldn't be too much longer if he couldn't get out. He took a brief running start and jumped over the group he'd just knocked down, getting out of the engine room and running for the exit, trying to remember the way through the twists and turns of what he swore was more of a labyrinth than when he found his way there.

"Krud!" he hissed under his breath as he rounded a corner and all but bowled over a guard robot.

"Hold," one of them ordered in a cold, mechanical voice, it's spider-legs turning it to face him, though it's main gun never lost its target on him.

"As if," he muttered, twisting to the side and trying to get close enough to get a grip on the robot nearest him without getting shot. Fortunately for him they weren't any better shots here than back home and one of them one flying into two others, leaving two more firing at him.

He managed to dodge one of them, but the other clipped his arm. He ignored the pain, grabbing the blaster off one of the ruined guard-bots and turning it on the other two, blowing them away with the residual charge left before the salvaged gun was useless.

He felt a weight with sharp claws land hard on his back, then two on the gun-arm before he turned his head halfway to see a swarm of creeplings converging from both directions. Beyond them, in the direction he wanted to go, was a dark, giant form that made him shudder.

It was one thing to know he was right about his mate's boyfriend. It was quite another to _see_ it, and see the madness was as strong as ever in his eyes.

"Well, it took long enough for one of you to find me out," he rumbled deeply. "Creeplings, drop him." The two gangs swarmed over Chance, dragging him to the floor as their master watched and laughed.

"To think, the greatest thorns in my side were two junkyard mechanics with delusions of grandeur," Dark Kat laughed as Chance fought hard, and lost to the sheer weight of numbers. "Though if I'd had any idea that Razor made such a delicious pet, I would have stopped trying to kill him years ago."

"You think he's just going to roll over for you, you'll be dead before you've even guessed how wrong you are," Chance growled lowly. "Everything you've managed with him is _all_ because you weren't Dark Kat."

"You have no idea how desperately he wants what I offer," he growled back with a lewd look over the tabby's body. "Though I must admit, he's a little _too_ willing sometimes. Perhaps I should teach you what he _desires_ before I kill you, mmm?"

"You're not going to kill me," Chance said with grim certainty. "Not yet, anyways. And you're not _that_ damned stupid that you think I won't _make_ you kill me to do that."

"Like you'd have that much choice in the matter," Dark Kat looked him over. "Bring him to the bridge."

The creeplings chittered and took several lengths of rope others of their kind brought to bind Chance securely before carting him off. Not a single one there cared that the tabby took out five of them before his hands were bound, and another three for his legs.

As he was moved, Chance was very careful to remember _not_ to work on his bindings too much; he didn't want to give up what little advantage he had at the moment, that Dark Kat seemed content to leave his Creeplings to watch him. They were attentive little bastards, but they weren't perfect... or particularly bright.

"So, what's the fucked up plan this time?" Chance asked with a low growl. "You know you're not going to be able to get anywhere back home like this... and around here, they've got hardware that makes the Enforcers look like wimps."

"Ah, you missed something," he grinned back at his captive. "As Lurin, Jake is familiar with this craft as a design I've showed him; a command and control craft that would actually be rather useful back home. He won't think much of Lurin taking this vehicle back with him. With you gone, he will have little reason to bother me anymore, even if he decides to reject my attentions."

Chance's ears flattened. "And how the _fuck_ do you think he's going to handle me not showing up again, huh? He's not going to just forget about me... or about what we've _both_ been thinking about you."

"Oh, you will show up," Dark Kat promised. "Just not in any condition to tell him anything."

"You're forgetting who it is that had to keep blowing up lairs to keep from getting his ass handed to him," the tabby growled lowly. "And I've gotten better since the last time we rumbled."

Gods, he hoped he sounded more confident about that than he really felt.

"You weren't my prisoner any of those times," Dark Kat pointed out and opened the coded, palm-print locked security door to the bridge. "And Jake was not my very willing plaything. Did he ever tell you his deepest secret fantasy?" he purred as the creeplings chained Chance to a frame sized for someone quite a bit bigger.

It didn't take much imagination to figure it was meant for Feral to watch the defeat of his city from.

"I've figured it out myself," Chance said grimly, his tail lashing. "And if you think you're going to get anywhere near him after this...."

"Who's going to stop me?" Dark Kat taunted him. "He still desires Lurin and what he offers."

"What time is it?" Chance asked with a grim smirk.

"If you expect me to believe you've set up some sort of bomb -"

"Give me _some_ credit," the tabby said, rolling his eyes. "It's just that you've got until about 1:00 before a detailed message fills the Sheriff in on where I am, why I'm here, and what I suspect ... even if he doesn't believe it, he'll be out here with Jo to make sure you don't have a B &E going on that you don't know about."

"Well, then, I guess I'll just have to see to you before then, won't I?" Dark Kat ran his claws down Chance's chest, shredding his shirt as the creeplings went to work on the rest. "I think it will be most appealing to watch Jake try to save you, not knowing you're already a broken body."

"I take a Hell of a lot before I break," Chance said grimly, trying to find a way to work his thick hands loose from the chains around them. It wasn't going to be easy, but there was no way he was going to let this psychopath win, especially not with what Jake had just said about what happens next.

"Good," he rumbled and slammed his fist into the tabby's chest, just below his heart.

Pain stabbed through his chest, his heart skipping a beat as the air was knocked out of him, leaving him breathless as the Creeplings backed off to watch the show.

Dark Kat closed a hand around his jaw and forced his face up. "What, no brave words? No warnings that I'll never get away with this?"

"You already know you won't; it's not like it's going to stop you," Chance sneered. He wasn't going to play into his hands just yet ... he knew that Dark Kat expected him to fight back more now. Every bit of street-kat that was in him _wanted_ him to fight back now, while he still had his strength.

But Dark Kat had his too; his strength, his freedom, and his full focus. 

He'd just have to stay alive long enough for his tormentor to decide that he had to get moving....

"Mmm, then I guess I will have to settle for your screams," Dark Kat sneered back down at him and accepted a package from a creepling even as something hard and burning was shoved into Chance's ass.

"Shit!" He hissed, then roared as a painful charge of electricity coursed through the dildo that had been forced into him. He pulled at the chains, but they'd been built to hold someone almost twice his size and with Dark Kat's strength; he wasn't about to break free like that.

"Your mate quite likes that. He actually has quite the imagination, you should know. This one is something he suggested," Dark Kat held up a thick sewing needle with a long strand of metal thread trailing from it. "He passed out from the orgasm it gave him. What do you think it will do to you?"

"I dunno," Chance managed to grind out through his teeth. "Make me want to castrate you and fuck you with the stump?"

"I suspect you already wish to do that," he chuckled and handed the kit over to a chittering creepling before stepping back to watch from his command chair. "It will be interesting to see how much T-Bone cans take before you pass out from the pain."

"You know, for somebody who's so proud of being creative, you're repeating yourself an _awful_ lot already," the tabby growled, biting down to keep from screaming as another jolt shot through him.

Then a creepling grabbed his sheath and used a claw to slice it open and he couldn't stop himself. He could feel his cock slip forward through the new opening, where it was grabbed and pulled the rest of the way out.

Before he'd had the chance to recover, the thick needle pierced one of his barbs, cutting through the nerve-dense skin. He screamed again... then went limp, doing his damnedest to make it look like he'd passed out... before there was time for him to do it for real.

The thing in his ass jolted him again, and he let it make his body jerk randomly, praying that Dark Kat would buy the act and remove it. How in the world could Jake get off on this treatment?

The creepling standing between his legs chittered uncertainly and poked him with the needle a few times, though not hard enough to do more than drop a small drop of blood.

That he could handle... it was irritating, but not as bad as the full piercing was, not as bad as the thing under his tail. He just had to keep from flinching in a way that wouldn't be natural....

"Well that was pathetic," Dark Kat muttered under his breath.

Chance could hear the creeplings back away and the heavier steps of their master approach. A large hand lifted his face up, but he kept his eyes closed and his body limp.

"I expected so much better from you," Dark Kat told him before letting his head go and pulled the electric dildo from Chance's ass.

Physically, Chance was almost grateful when the metallic phallus was replaced with Dark Kat's. It was larger, yes, but it wasn't the sort of unyielding, pain-inducing design that had just been in him.

On an entirely different level, he was even more sickened. The fact that he couldn't do anything about it didn't help at all; if he reacted the way he wanted to, he'd be revealing that he was ready and able to be used for Dark Kat's full entertainment after all.

So he bit back his rage and humiliation, remained limp and let his body be used and did his damndest to avoid letting on that he was fully aware of everything.

He felt giant hands grab his hips and claws sink into them as Dark Kat came close to getting off.

For once, he was almost grateful for the pain... it kept what pleasure Dark Kat was forcing on him from getting to be unbearable. Before long, the Xanith pumped his seed into Chance's ass, sounding more disgusted with his weakness than satisfied with his own pleasure.

It was a tiny victory that Chance held on to with everything he had. He remained limp when Dark Kat pulled out of him and slashed his claws across Chance's back in his frustration at such a short event before stalking off.

"Play with him," Dark Kat gave his creeplings free reign to do as they wished. "He doesn't need to live."

One creepling nosed his sliced sheath and began to lick the blood from it while another climbed up his legs and dug into his back, ready to mimic it's master's actions when an alarm sounded and everything froze for a second.

"Ready for launch!" Dark Kat bellowed at his minions.

Chance had never been more grateful to hear those words related to Dark Kat. He continued to play dead as the creeplings left his abused body to prepare the Dreadnought for launch. Just a few minutes ... just give them time to get in the air, for Dark Kat to be focused on trying to handle security, and he'd have his chance.

All he had to do was get his hands free and the rest would be relatively easy. One thing Dark Kat had never taken into account with him was that SWAT had not only never been out to kill their targets, they were actively trying to bring them in alive.

That ended today.

This was one fight where Chance intended to kill or be killed, and it wasn't going to stop until Dark Kat was dead.

He was still working on getting his wrists free when he felt the craft began to launch.

He doubled his efforts; he wanted to get out, get this over with, before Dark Kat had the chance to hurt anybody else. He pulled his hands against the manacles holding them, biting back the pain as he flexed his hands, his thumbs straining in the sockets, trying to keep him from dislocating either of them, let alone both. He swallowed the urge to cry out as his left hand finally slipped free, and he quickly made short work of freeing his other hand and feet.

By that time, the house had crumbled, smashed by the ascending Dreadnought as it started to make its way towards Global Dynamics.

Chance allowed himself only a small breath of relief that no one, and nothing, had noticed his escape. Less than fifteen feet away Dark Kat sat in his chair, oblivious to the Kat creeping up behind him as he gave orders to creeplings and computerized systems.

* * *

A few minutes earlier Jo and Carter were pulled up outside of Lurin's house.

"Y'know, I never really thought that Chance would be _this_ stupid," Carter muttered as he slammed the car door. "Even with what he _does_ believe is going on."

"Sheriff, he's likely scared shitless by the idea of being right just to leave that message, and he's likely right since it was sent," Jo pointed out and sniffed the air, one of the last vestiges of her long enforced stay in crinos form. "He is extremely good at what he does."

"Yeah, but if he actually thought he was right, he should've come to us _first_ and tried to make sure it wouldn't be God knows how long after he got in trouble to get some help," Carter pointed out, walking up to the house. "Cross your fingers that he just lost track of time poking around," he murmured, knocking on the door.

"He didn't," Jo said with a little too much certainty from knowing the Kat's type. "He couldn't come to us, not without enough proof to force a search."

A long moment passed, with no sign of life inside, even when he hit the doorbell.

"In we go," Carter sighed and pulled out a lock-gun to avoid too much damage to the door by breaking it in.

He slipped the mechanism of the 'gun' into the lock, and pumped the handle three times. On the third pump, the lock clicked, the mechanism fully into the tumblers; he pulled it out, turned the handle, and they were in.

The house was in order, dark and cool with the lack of anyone in it.

"I don't like this," Jo said.

Carter could almost swear he saw her wolf-ears flatten, though he knew they weren't there.

"Earthquake?" she frowned, her attention on the light tremor in the floor. "There are no fault lines here."

"Get the Hell out of here!" Carter snapped, grabbing her arm and bolting back for the door. He didn't know what was about to happen, but he _had_ learned that, in Eureka, when buildings started to shake, you moved.

It wasn't _like_ nice, safe, sane L.A. that way, where light shaking usually meant you made sure your coffee didn't spill.

He felt his footing slip as the ground heaved up under them, the flooring cracking and groaning as it gave way from whatever was under it.

"Ah Hell," he heard Jo growl, then a huge form grabbed him in a bear hug and hurled them outside, right through the shattered front windows.

He felt fur and rock-hard muscle curl around him to protect him from the explosions he could hear going on and the upheaval that continued to send them rolling.

They finally came to a stop in the street, Jo's Crinos form wrapped around him as something exploded nearby.

"I think Chance was right," he offered. "Now, can we get out of here, and back to the armory?"

"Yes, sir," she unwrapped herself from around him and shifted back. Despite the pain that wracked her body, so obvious on her face as her form shed it's fur and mass, she remained silent.

Carter caught his breath and tried not to let his stomach churn at the sight of his deputy's agony. It was only when she stood, completely naked, in human form, that he dared breathe again.

"Come on, Sheriff," Jo insisted as she went to her cruiser and pulled out a fresh uniform, complete with undergarments, and made extremely short work of dressing. "Doctor Bengal is in a world of trouble."

"Were you hit?" He asked, moving over towards her cruiser, glancing back at his and confirming that it had been what he'd heard explode before.

"Nothing that hasn't healed, sir," she said and slid into the driver's seat. "That will take some heavy artillery to take down."

"Think that gun you had for the green guy'll work?" Carter asked as he climbed in the other side. "Or are we talking bigger?" He was already dialing Jake's number, but he stopped just short of hitting the call button. With Chance in the line of fire, it might not be a good idea to let Jake know... especially not if Chance was _in_ the thing they needed shot down.

"Sheriff, if we shoot down that craft with his partner on board, do you really want to be the one who tells him afterwards?" Jo pointed out. "Tell him now, on the off chance he doesn't already know."

"I just don't know that I want him trying to block shots _meant_ to take it down," he muttered, though he hit the call button anyways.

"Talk fast," Jake's voice came back, the sounds of a major commotion going on in the background along with him running and near out of breath.

"Dr. Clawson, this is the Sheriff. We've got an emergency, and we might need SWAT... it looks like Chance might be on board one of those Dreadnoughts you've told us about."

"No kruddy kidding!" Jake snapped at him with the sound of powerful engines roaring closer in the background. "Damn Kat's always doing these stunts."

Carter glanced up and spotted the TurboKat zooming towards town, and presumably her creator. 

"S.T.I.N.G's up too," Jo pointed out as another black jet launched from the direction of Global.

"Good... should slow it down enough until Jake can get in the air. We'll just have to hope that thing isn't built up to snuff for what he usually has. So, what do we have that _might_ touch it?"

"That depends on whether it's force shield is working or not," she said simply and drove them towards town and their armory. "If it has, no."

"What force field?" Carter asked with a frown.

"The one Dr. Bengal designs into all his vehicles," she told him, rolling her eyes a bit. "We should probably call him Dark Kat now."

"Yeah, we probably should - and how was I supposed to know about that?" He grumbled as she pulled up in front of the office abruptly. 

"Same way I do," she told him and headed in at a run with him close behind her, ready to grab whatever it was that she might toss at him. "By keeping tabs on the project proposals."

* * *

Far above them Jake was controlling the TurboKat from the gunner's position, trusting Blackie to handle the maneuvering. 

"Any luck on the scanners?" he asked as the made short work of the distance between the town and shimmering saucer he recognized all too well.

"One Kat, one Xanith, and dozens of Creeplings," she told him. "All alive, though several cooling bodies suggests that at least a dozen of the Creeplings aren't anymore. He worked fast, to get this many without anybody noticing them in numbers."

"Underground facilities help," Jake pointed out. "Just get me inside. That ship won't last long around here."

"That is not a wise idea," she objected. "The odds of survival ..."

"I _know_. Just get me in there," he flattened his ears.

"Suggestions for getting past the force field?" She requested.

"It has a resonance frequency it is vulnerable to," he said quickly and slipped into the bomb bay. "I'll need to modify one of the screamer missiles to disrupt it."

"Work fa- hold on!" Blackie warned him, jerking up and out of the way as the saucer abruptly jerked sideways, nearly clipping them. "I think T-Bone is negotiating with Dark Kat."

"Be ready to catch him," Jake shouted back and redoubled his efforts to modify the missile fast enough. "He'll have to jump."

"Trying to get into position," the jet confirmed, starting to twist around to find a place near where it detected Chance... or an _opening_ for him to leave through, at least. "Sending instructions to evacuate potential crash zones."

"Good," Jake murmured, focusing on his work and keeping the fear in check. The last time Chance had pulled this stunt they'd been together when the final battle had begun.

"Razor? Negotiations have ended," Blackie informed him. "T-Bone is still on the bridge."

"Shit!" He swore, loading the missile into the launch bay, praying he had the frequency right.

Before they could launch it, the saucer fell from the sky, twisting down and hitting, side first. The Dreadnought's field flickered, then gave out as its weight began to compromise the structure. It hadn't been moving too fast yet, but it didn't have to; simple physics began to rip it apart, force it to collapse under its own bulk.

"Keep a lock on Chance!" Jake barely managed not to scream as he got back in the cockpit. "We have to find him _fast_."

"He's in the upper structure," Blackie said with a sick tone, moving in towards the portion that had just crashed into the ground. "Razor, there isn't going to be time," she tried to warn him.

"There has to be," he countered, bringing her into a dive squarely towards the weakening sign of life on his scanners. The Xanith was dead or gone, but the Kat was still breathing.

Without orders Blackie opened fire, carefully stripping away layer after layer of twisted metal as she hovered above the point where the Kat's life signs had last been.

"The wreckage might be blocking the sensors," she tried to make Jake feel better.

"Just get me in there," he said, trying to keep the panic out of his voice as more wreckage fell. The cockpit opened, letting him out and into the opening they'd blasted into it.

He didn't waste any time crawling down into the tangle, using scent and instinct that had guided him to his partner a dozen times. The scent of blood was heavy; its sticky dark red ooze covered the remains of the cockpit.

"Chance!" he called out, desperately hoping for an answer. "Don't you dare die on me now," he growled under his breath before he spotted a bit of golden fur under a blanket of scarlet. "Oh, Bastet," he whispered as he forcibly pulled away chunks of metal, all but oblivious to the giant, powerful hands helping him out.

Mercifully, it looked like the worst that had happened was a piece of machinery that had landed on Chance's leg. Most of the debris had been deflected by a large X-frame that had landed with the tabby between its upper struts. As Jo hauled the frame out of the way, Jake was able to reach his mate; the tabby was limp, with a piece of what was unmistakeably spine between his clenched teeth, the only part of him that _wasn't_ relaxed by his unconsciousness.

"Jo, get him into Blackie," Jake said quietly, the desperation he was feeling all to clear in his voice as he worked to free Chance and get him into the crino's arms. "Get him to the hospital."

"He's alive," she reassured him, before taking the tabby and going to do just that.

"Keep him that way," Jake all but pleaded with her as she vanished into the bright light well above, leaving Jake the slower task of getting himself out.

* * *

Days later, Jake was sitting next to Chance's hospital bed. The tabby hadn't woken up since he'd been rescued, though all the nurses reassured him that he _was_ going to be okay.

Physically.

Seeing what Dark Kat had done to him... the Xanith was _lucky_ that Chance had killed him before Jake had gotten the chance to do it himself. It wouldn't have been _nearly_ so quick or clean.

"Razor, I have good news," S.T.I.N.G.'s voice came from the speakers in the room. "We have learned what has caused the breakdown in the barrier between the Fey lands and this one. It is a device, and it can be turned back on."

"Jake, when I'm not in costume," the cinnamon-furred tom answered automatically. "What've you got?"

"Dr. Morgan has apparently been conducting research in breaching dimensional barriers, and managed to get through into the fairy-world by mistake. He suspected that it was responsible for the recent conditions, but wasn't willing to turn it off while there were people missing... or while he was conducting some final experiments. Should I turn this information over to the Sheriff and Dr. Stark?"

"Once you've downloaded every scrap of information on the device that exists," he nodded. "If I have to build it myself, I will need those notes."

"Blackie is already considering them," S.T.I.N.G. told him. "Will I be coming with you?" He asked hopefully.

"Assuming you want to," he nodded. "I don't see any reason you shouldn't."

"Blackie has said Aristal is much nicer than here," the enthusiastic young AI said cheerfully. "So yes, I would like to... how is Chance?"

"Healing," Jake signed and put a hand on his mate's chest to feel his heart. "Slowly, but healing. How his mind will come out of this, we'll have to wait and see."

"At least now he'll have time to heal," S.T.I.N.G. offered, trying to be helpful. "Would you like me to leave you alone?"

"Yes, and thank you," Jake glanced up, even though he knew the AI was all around. "It is very good news."

"You're welcome," he said easily, before 'leaving' Jake and Chance alone.

Jake leaned now to kiss his partner's forehead, his hand still over Chance's heart. "Don't leave me, Chance," he whispered. "I know I've said I'm ready to die too many times, but it's not your time, love. You've got so much to look forward too. So much life still in you."

"He's not going to leave you," Marie said softly from the door. "Want me to give the two of you some more time before lunch?"

"I know, it just doesn't hurt to remind both of us sometimes," Jake looked up at her, no longer even bothering to hide the tears that fell just for coming so close to loosing his mate. "I'm usually the one in that bed."

"I've already had one or two reminders of that," she murmured, bringing in the food she'd gone after for the both of them. "You know, if he _was_ awake, he'd probably be yelling at you for worrying like this," she tried to joke, but it fell flat. "Sorry. His body's going to be fine at least... the healing should be done shortly."

"I'm more worried about the rest," Jake murmured, but accepted the food gratefully and dug into the spicy finger food selection Vincent had made for them. "Do you know what happened to him?"

"Rough details," she shuddered. "Jesus ... part of me wants that asshole alive just so I can watch _you_ finish him off. Is it true that...."

"Probably," he sighed. "Raped, electric shock dildo, cut his sheath open to start that sew-job he did on me. Probably had the creeplings work him over too. Plus the general damage done in the fight where he ripped Dark Kat's spine out."

"And as soon as he wakes up, you're both going to have to head back to Aristal... might be for the best, I suppose," Marie murmured.

"We don't have to," Jake hesitated and looked at her. "S.T.I.N.G. and Blackie found the device that created the instability."

"I... think that's a good thing, and not just for us," she murmured, moving to hug Jake lightly. "Let's face it... after this, if anybody could help him recover from it, it's probably Beverly, not somebody back home...."

"Back home, he'd have me," Jake sighed. "No insurance and not nearly the income for that kind of help. Probably part of why we've both got so many issues. We survive ... but maybe not much more sometimes."

"I'm... not saying anything against you, but I _do_ think it'd be better for him to have the help here," Marie murmured. "And now there's no need to choose between _getting_ that help, or going home."

"Agreed," he signed and pulled her close. "Assuming he's willing to take her help. Neither of us are much on therapy, or trusting her."

"I know," Marie nodded, hugging him tightly. "Still... it's worth suggesting. Want me to stick around after lunch today?"

"If you can," he nodded, nuzzling her close. 

He was as scared as she'd ever seen him. His own death didn't really phase him, but Chance's ... that was on another level like nothing Marie had expected. She wrapped her arms around him tight, pressing her muzzle into his neck, trying to give him what small comfort she could. It was going to be a long time before Chance woke up... even if it was just in a couple of hours.

* * *

"Taggart, I believe your mate is upset," Ikuon said as they approached the main building of his compound.

"I can't say I'm surprised," he admitted. "You may with to stay in the trees and wait until she's worked her temper out."

"Very well, Taggart," the giant, hairy humanoid nodded and stopped before the open space that surrounded the single-story building.

Taggart took a deep breath, and seriously considered whether or not he should just try camping out for a while instead. Unfortunately, he knew that trying to avoid Jo would just piss her off even more... so he stepped out into the clearing, not sure if she'd come after him out here, or wait until he was inside.

After she didn't come tearing out at him, he continued towards the house, already hearing the pups yipping at the door.

"You're back!" Zach woofed happily, practically jumping up onto him when the door opened.

"Jo's waiting for you," Mina added. "I think she's mad about something."

"I expected it," he told her, mildly surprised that their growth had slowed to a near crawl while he had been gone. "Where is she?"

"Your room, last we heard," Mina told him. "Went in there real fast when she came over; she's human right now."

"Thank you," he gave Mina's ears a rub before heading for his bedroom and the woman he expected would be furious right now.

He opened the door slightly. "Jo?"

"Welcome home," she said with a smile that was _entirely_ too cheerful for the situation. "Your hunting trip went well?"

"Better than I ever expected," he admitted. "He is waiting outside for now."

"That's good... maybe he won't hear you explaining just what the _Hell_ you thought you were doing going into Fairy without telling anybody."

Her tone was staying friendly for now, but he knew that it probably wasn't going to last too long. With a little luck he could just get her through to the point where she'd stop being pissed and let herself be happy for his discovery.

"No one would have let me go if it was known," he tried to point out as gently and logically as he could. "There was every chance that with the current state of things that the time differential would not be as severe as it normally is."

"And it wasn't, though you still left everybody thinking you'd be back in a week or two instead of a month or two. What would the pups have done if you hadn't come back?" She stood up from the bed, stepping closer to him. "You could have been missing for _millennia_."

"The pups knew I might be gone longer than a few weeks," he tried to assure her and sat down on the bed. "It was arranged with the Moreaus to take them in if I didn't come back in a couple months. I _did_ arrange for things to be covered. You might not remember, but I always make those kinds of arrangements when I go off to hunt on my own. There is always a chance I won't be back for years, if at all."

"Yes, but _I_ still didn't know!" She snapped at him. "What made this trip so important to you that you wouldn't even take the chance of telling _me_?"

"I did tell you," he pointed out, though his body language and tone was decidedly submissive. "If you know this much, you did get my note."

" _After_ you left," she groaned. "Jim, you didn't even give me a chance... did you really think I wouldn't have understood, if you'd told me _why_ you were going to do this?"

"You may have insisted on coming too," he countered quietly. "Most Fey don't understand they you _aren't_ a classical werewolf that managed to escape them, and wouldn't held back long enough to find out."

"You were trying to protect _me_?" She asked him incredulously.

He nodded in silence, not ready to risk any words to interrupt her absorbing the idea.

"You really are an idiot sometimes," she sighed after a few moments, shaking her head. "You know that, right?"

"I have been told before," he nodded, hopeful that this meant she wasn't going to be pissed at him too badly in the long term. "As bad as the self-testing of genetic throwback retrovirus?"

"Worse," she said dryly. " _That_ you knew Eureka could fix."

"Will you forgive me this one as well?" he asked. "I am sorry I chose wrong."

"You're just lucky you didn't get turned into a frog or something," she murmured, sitting down next to him on the bed and leaning against him. "And that you got back _before_ I had a decade or two to _really_ get pissed off about it."

"Yes, I was," he nodded. "Though it turns out a tree was more likely. That was a fate you helped me avoid," he slid an arm around her and kissed the top of her head. "You do make seducing me extremely difficult."

"Oh really? I assume there are some details behind this," she asked him dryly, pushing him back to the bed and leaning over him.

"If you want them," he murmured, honestly a bit surprised by her move but willing to go wherever she wanted to. "A Fey wanted to add me to her garden as a tree. I doubt she'd ever encountered a male who wasn't happy to take her up on her blatant interest."

"So what about this female?" she rumbled, straddling his hips and leaning down, almost close enough to kiss.

"She ended up getting Lojack's teeth in a very tender place when she tried making her move," Taggart murmured, glad for the shift in mood, though still not sure if he could trust it just yet. "Frankly, she wouldn't have gotten anywhere if it wasn't for magic. Uhm... I _do_ have somebody waiting outside who should be shown a guest room soon," he said apologetically.

"I think he can wait until you give your girlfriend a proper apology," she countered and kissed him soundly.

He kissed her back, honestly glad both to be back home, and that she wasn't entirely pissed off at him anymore. As he wrapped his arms around her, deepening their kiss, he had to agree with her. Ikuon could _definitely_ wait for a little while ... assuming he hadn't already been expecting the wait.

* * *

In the better part of three days before Chance had done little more than stir, but he was finally back home and mobile under his own power. Unfortunately, at least to _most_ of his thinking, it _wasn't_ time for Jake to stop worrying over him like a mother hen.

"I _can_ feed myself, you know," Chance grumbled, somewhat good-naturedly as Jake opened up a container of finger food from Vincent's, Marie out of the room fetching a few supplies for the hot tub the two were soaking in.

"I know, but then I'd have to find other ways to burn off the nervous energy," he pointed out with a light, chaste kiss. "We really don't need us both laid up."

"No, we don't," Chance admitted with a sigh. "So, he really is dead?"

Yes," he nodded. "We found what was left of him, DNA match, and he didn't have the kind of genetic equipment that could have produced a clone. He sticks out here a bit more than back home."

"Good," Chance growled lowly. "Just wish I'd been more conscious when it happened. After what I went through to get him to let his guard down, I deserved to _know_ when it happened."

"When you ripped his spine out with your jaws," Jake told him, completely serious as he reached up to caress Chance's jawline with the back of one hand. "I know what he did to you," he added softly, just a statement of fact and understanding.

"I don't know _how_ you can enjoy that sort of thing," Chance admitted softly. "You're... probably going to be a _long_ time before you talk me into playing like that again."

"I honestly doubt I'd try," he murmured, moving close. "As for why ... do you really want to know?"

"Yes," Chance murmured, turning to nuzzle him lightly and got a tender kiss in return. "How you can _want_ that, let alone like it when it happens... that doesn't make _sense_ to me."

"I should preface this with the fact that how I got into it really isn't normal on any level," Jake shifted so he was looking his mate in the face. "First, because Bastet _hates_ it, and can't do anything about it as long as I like it. I really do get off on doing that."

"Y'know, for somebody who was considering becoming Her _priest_ that might not be a healthy attitude," Chance chuckled, taking advantage of Jake's distraction to feed himself for a bit.

"It's ... different," he struggled to explain. "I belong to Her. I can't contest it. I don't think I ever even tried to. I just am. She knows that, I know that, anyone who can see those connections knows it. She calls me her pissed off, hard working, adolescent brat. I give my all to Her intent and needs of me, and I use what little I can to point out how much I hate being a puppet."

"That's... adolescent, all right," Chance murmured. "Anything more to it?"

"Yeah, these days there are; the more normal side of it. It's pushing myself, my limits," he signed, stung by his mate's agreement, even though he always knew it to be true. "You know I can do anything I set myself too, and I have nothing to loose. She'll keep sending me back until She's satisfied that I've finished all my tasks. I don't _try_ to get myself killed, but it's hard to be afraid of things going too far when you'll ether wake up in a few hours with the hangover from hell after listening to a ranting lecture, or She'll let me stay dead and I'll finally have a little peace. The rush, it's addictive on it's own too."

"So basically... you've had a death wish for the past decade or so, and you've known it wasn't going to actually work so you kept trying," Chance said, a sick tone to his voice.

"A good deal longer than that, and no," Jake closed his eyes and got ready to try again. "Are you afraid of dieing every time we take the TurboKat out?"

"Afraid of it, no, but that doesn't mean I'm looking forward to it," Chance pointed out to a completely bewildered look from his partner that started to border on freaked out.

"You _don't_ look forward to flying?" Jake tried not to sound as rattled as he was.

"Of _course_ I do, it's the dying part I was talking about," Chance explained quickly. "I... I guess I'm just stuck on what you said, back when you were talking about going home on your own." He sighed, shaking his head. "Sorry."

"Flying's a rush for you, and me too to be honest. Death is possible, but the rush is worth a lot more than the risk. Right?" Jake asked, wanting to be very sure Chance was following him this time.

"Yeah... I guess I get what you mean, it just seems like a _lot_ higher chance of it, with what you do. Is the rush really _that_ strong for you? Especially the way Lurin and Melody worked you over?"

"You're wrong," Jake shook his head. "The risk of getting killed are _lower_ for what I do. Think about it, the only time I even ended up in the hospital over S &M was when Melody _didn't_ do her job and I was swimming for a couple days. I get hurt, but never badly with someone who did their part."

"And Dark Kat could have killed you any time he wanted," Chance murmured, rubbing Jake's back lightly. "Sorry... I know it appeals to you. It's just even harder figuring out why after going through it myself, when it wasn't you on the other end," he chuckled slightly.

"I know," Jake hugged him tightly, careful of the lingering bruises. "It's just what I am." He shifted to look his mate in the face after a lingering silence. "Think about it this way. Pain ... I can do it with anyone and get off. Safe and sane or not, it's true. Just sex, and really get off from it, that takes someone a lot more special."

"And do the two of us have it for you?" Chance asked, reaching up to brush some stray wet fur out of his face as Jake nodded.

"It's what I was trying to tell you the other night, that even without kink I want you," Jake buried his face against Chance's neck and licked him affectionately. "That's harder to find than love, or even a partner's trust. It goes beyond all the games I play with my own head and the Gods who like giving me orders. It took us a long time to get there, but it happened."

"And Marie?" Chance asked very softly, aware that she'd come and gone a couple times already.

"She's getting there," Jake murmured. 

"Glad to hear it," Marie smiled as she came in with a small kit of bath oils and scents. "Thanks for deciding to stay, now that we know you can."

"You found out what was creating the portals?" Chance asked, looking between them.

"Yes," Jake nodded. "A device one of the scientists here created. He was trying to prove the stories of a fairyland were real, and it worked a bit too well. I have all the schematics and notes, so I can recreate it when we're ready."

"That's good," Chance murmured, sinking into the water a bit more. "So, a couple more years around here, before we head back home?"

"That's the current plan," Jake nodded and relaxed between his mates. "Might want to start thinking about what we do when we get there. Whatever we had would be long gone. We might even have been declared dead."

"And if Feral _hasn't_ found SWAT, he's a bigger idiot than we ever thought," Chance nodded. "Time to think about that later though... maybe we can get a shop set up somewhere other than MKC."

"You're willing to leave?" Jake looked at him in real surprise.

"Compared to prison?" Chance pointed out. "Yeah, I think I'd prefer Saydan Bay or somewhere else to Al-kat-traz. In case you've forgotten, I've still got a psychopathic ex-girlfriend waiting for me."

Jake winced. "You have a point. Anywhere you thought you might like?"

"A poor extradition history to MKC would be good too," Marie added.

"The Veldt maybe ... I've got family in Saydan Bay," Chance murmured, thinking it over. "Of course, there's always Colton, but I'd rather take a pass on working there, myself."

"Tazerin has an world-class university," Jake dragged up old information. "They're Kantin, but there's a sizeable Kat population and they have no use for outsider law. Might be worth looking into. Might want to start in Saydan Bay, just to have a couch to crash on while we work something out."

"Always a place to start... besides, I think I'd _love_ seeing the face on some of the Mange family when SWAT came to pay a visit to the _living_ members of the clan," Chance grinned.

"I think I missed this story," Marie grinned at him, happy to prod any story out of him that had him grinning.

"The Metalikats," Jake supplied. "Their names in life were Max and Molly Mange."

"Oh, them," she nodded, then giggled. "Could be interesting."

"Certainly deserved," Chance mused. "And let's face it, SB doesn't have even half the hardware to use against us that MKC does."

"Yeah, but it has a lot more by way of vicious killers for hire," Jake pointed out. "I'd really rather not stay any longer than we have too."

"That I can agree with," Chance nodded. "But while we're there, we don't have to retire, just be careful."

"And my overgrown kitten wants to show off a bit more," Jake teased him with a kiss on his nose. "Agreed."

"Oh yeah," Chance chuckled, kissing Jake back. "So... just _what_ was it that I wasn't allowed to do until the doc says again?" He asked with a playful purr.

"Exert yourself," Marie snickered. "But as long as you're sitting, now much exerting could you do?"

"I always knew there was a reason I liked you," Chance grinned at her and guided a very willing Jake into his lap.


	28. The End of an Era

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Marie's work as proof that her family is not nuts, the feline and AI residents of Eureka get ready head to Aristal and the unknown life waiting for them there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written with Karl Wolfemann

"Enjoying the ride?" Chance grinned back at his passenger in the current Turbokat prototype after nearly an hour in the air. Sure, he could have made the trip shorter, but getting to fly in the jet was a treat too.

"Oh _yeah_ ," Zoe grinned, her face plastered to the side of the cockpit to watch the tropical aquamarine ocean below.

"Good, we're almost there," he warned her. "I think you'll like it."

"I have no doubts there," she giggled a bit.

"Best part is, we won't have to worry about gawkers if I take my hologram off," he smiled back at her briefly before turning his attention back to flying. "How's work been going?" He asked her curiously; over the past couple of years, it had been harder to keep up with her, between her college classes, getting ready to leave in a week or two, and both of them working for different parts of Eureka and Global.

"Pretty good," she grinned. "I'm already giving my psych tech fits with some theories on the causes of deviant psychology."

"Hell, you've got Eureka for test cases," Chance laughed, approaching the helipad near the condo. "You've got some _serous_ nutjobs to work with for it. They ought to expect some strange results," he grinned.

"Except my 'strange' results hold in the general world too, when you look," she grinned and watched the fine sand outside the landing pad blow away from the engines. "Most of them come from LA, really."

"Yeah, well, most shrinks I've heard around here have their heads up their asses too," he snickered, pausing for a bit to touch down gently. "You don't have that problem."

"No, though my Dad still wants me to stop drinking stewed yard clippings," she giggled and looked around at their location and the immaculately looking two-story creamy white Spanish-style villa. " _This_ is where we're staying?"

"Yep," Chance grinned. "So, you like it?" He asked as he slid the cockpit back.

"It's _incredible_ , Chance," she said, her eyes wide as it sunk in just what he'd pulled off in the name of their first, and only, time sleeping together. "You didn't have to get this extravagant," she said and accepted his help getting down from the cockpit.

"Have to? Maybe not," he smiled as he helped her down. "Wanted to? Yeah. After all, you've been _real_ patient the last two years," he winked. "This weekend's for you, Zoe."

"Well, I didn't _wait_ for you, but ... well, a guy like you is pretty rare," she smiled and walked with him along the fine sandstone path from the helipad. "Until you started to pack, I still had some hopes that it would be more than just a weekend."

"Yeah, but Jake's going back," Chance explained ... or tried to, squeezing her hand. "He's been trying, on and off, to convince us both that we don't have to go back with him ... but we both want to. He's my partner, even if we try to retire SWAT once we get settled. Besides, I hear you've got somebody a bit closer to your age you're seeing," he smiled down at her.

"Yeah, Jath's pretty cool, but he's still a Eureka brat. There's _so_ much he doesn't understand, cause he'd never left, never lived in the real world, or seen a working class family try to survive. The silence gets uncomfortable sometimes."

"Yeah ... I know what you mean," Chance admitted. "For what it's worth... if you think it's worth the effort, the best way to help with some of that is to try and _get_ him out there. Not for the rough parts, maybe, but try to get him out to see past the lab. Even if the two of you don't stick together, it can help make him a better guy in the long run. Take it from a couple decades experience," he chuckled.

"So far, that's been the hard part," she admitted. "He's ... he doesn't understand what I get out of working with people. It's like that part of him doesn't exist. Even when he finally agreed to help out at the Eureka old folks home, he didn't _get_ it."

"In that case... you might be better off looking somewhere else," Chance admitted. "Or waiting for him to grow up some. I mean... he's what, sixteen? Seventeen? Not really the best time for most folks and getting that sort of thing." They reached the door, and he pulled out the key card to open it on the luxurious front room.

"I know, and ... well, there's a _reason_ military and law enforcement tends to run in families. There's an inherent drive and sense of duty in both groups that goes way beyond training. Guess I did inherent that much from Dad. It sure wasn't from Mom. The pickings there are just seriously slim around Eureka, when you want somebody that doesn't completely glaze over when I start to talk."

"Well, hey, I wouldn't be that much better in the last department," Chance chuckled. "So... want to relax for a bit, find something a bit more cheerful to talk about?"

"Sure," she went with the light swinging motion that caught her eye outside. "And Chance ... I never hoped for more than being a girlfriend; kinda like Cindy was before she left. I'm really going to miss having somebody around that really understands what I'm talking about."

"That's called a friend with perks where I'm from," Chance smiled and kissed her softly, not quite ready for the heated, and experienced, kiss it turned into as she pressed against his body in a way that made it impossible for him to miss that she had grown up in the last two and some years since he'd been this close to her last.

Still, surprised or not, he knew how to respond to her now. He wrapped his arms around her, giving back just as good as he got, running his powerful hands down her back, exploring her and pressing his rough tongue into her mouth.

He felt her hands run down his body, squeeze his ass and move on to pull his shirt from his jeans.

"Want to take this back outside, or more comfortable in here?" He asked her with a low purr as their lips parted, brushing his furry face along her cheek and starting to undo her belt.

"No one is around here?" she asked, sorely tempted by the warm sun, but not at all willing to be walked in on.

"There's the help, but they won't say a thing about anything they see. They're _very_ discrete," he smiled. "And they'll stay off the beach unless we ask 'em to come out," he winked.

"Sounds exciting," she smiled and pushed his shirt from his shoulders. "I've never been skinny dipping either."

"Mmm ... before, or after, a little fun?" Chance asked her with a grin, kissing her lightly and shrugging his shirt off. "We've got a whole weekend to ourselves."

"As long as we actually get out there in the sun, after," she giggled before shimmying out of her own shirt and pressing against his broad, soft-furred chest, her hands exploring everything she could touch.

"Oh we will," he grinned, kissing her deeply before walking back out towards the beach. "We'll just leave the skinny dipping for after."

Zoe grinned and grabbed a light blanket before catching up with him. "Sand in everything isn't fun," she said with a wink.

"I'll give you that one, though it always gets stuck in fur," he chuckled, undoing his belt and tossing it off to the side as they headed out, looking back at the bra-clad young woman behind him. "You're just lucky Jake's not around, or you'd have been tackled and in the water before ever making it to the house," he winked.

"Seriously?" she asked a little wide-eyed. "He never seemed interested in anybody else."

"You never heard about the effect warm water has on him," Chance explained. "Normally, he probably wouldn't be ... I was surprised that he was interested in Marie even, really. But give him an ocean to play around in ... when he's not busy exploring as close to the bottom as he can get, he's horny as a she-kat in heat."

"I bet you've learned to take good advantage of that," she snickered and spread the large throw on the fine, warm sand. "Care to give me a taste of what he gets?" she nearly crooned and knelt on the throw before stripping what little she had left on off and tossing it casually aside.

"Just how big a taste?" He purred, sliding his own pants off and kneeling next to her, running his hands down her sides, then up towards her breasts.

"Nothing bloody, okay?" she murmured and leaned forward into his touch for a for a kiss, even as she spread her legs a bit. "I haven't done all _that_ much."

"Nothing bloody," he promised her. "Just wasn't sure how much you _were_ into," he reassured her, kissing her back, reaching down to stroke her sex lightly, popping his claws out slightly to run them along her moist pussy-lips and the trimmed, naturally blond hair there.

"Mmm, feeling good," she moaned and let her head fall back, her legs spread a bit further apart.

"Want this slow, or fast? Gonna be hard either way," he rumbled, rubbing his shaft against her leg. He reached up, running a hand through her curly blonde hair, kissing her neck and slowly playing his fingers along her slick sex.

"Slow," she moaned, rocking her hips into his touch. "Let's savor this first time."

"Kinda hoping you'd say that," he purred, licking his way down along her smooth, furless collarbone, spreading her lips and finding her clit with a fingertip, rubbing it slowly as he worked towards her breasts.

"Ohhh," she moaned and shifted one leg to run the top of her foot gently along his cock, taking in the texture of the rubbery barbs against hardness of its core.

"Flexible, aren't you?" He grinned, sliding down further, nipping at her nipples lightly. "Want to feel this inside you?" He asked, lapping the undersides of her breasts with his rough tongue.

"I want _this_ in me," she shivered and flexed her toes against his cock. "Been in my fantasies a long time, you know."

"Oooh...." He groaned lightly as his balls rubbed against her foot a bit. "Thought you wanted it slow though," he teased, inhaling her scent and lowering his fingers, pressing one thick digit up into her tight, wet body.

She whimpered and squeezed her body down around his finger, almost aching to be filled by something much larger. "Different definition of slow," she gasped and moved her foot a bit lower to arch and rub her manicured toes against his balls, enjoying the weight and roll of them as much as his response to it.

"Please," she looked up at him pleadingly as she slid all the way down and rocked her hips up invitingly.

Chance kissed her, pulling his finger out of her and moving to rub his shaft against her slick lips.

"You're beautiful," he purred deeply, sliding down and then back up to press his throbbing, barbed maleness deep into her body as he claimed a deep, heated kiss.

He moaned into her mouth as she slid her legs along his, entwining them and tightening her body around his. As he began to thrust, slowly drawing out and pushing back into her willing depths, it sank in that even as obviously aroused and hungry for him that she was, she wasn't much on participating, or she didn't know how.

With only a weekend, he didn't really think he was about to change that, either way. Still, he was going to make this as good for her as he could; he shifted, searching for her g-spot as they made out and his shaft slid in and out of her hot, slick flesh.

He took her moans and shivers as a good sign, and when she broke the kiss to gasp for air, her hips rocking of their own volition, it was an even better one. Whatever else was going on, she wasn't afraid of pleasure.

He shifted his head, licking at the cleft of her neck and shoulder, his rough tongue and the tips of his sharp teeth pressing into her skin as the pleasure started building inside of him. He slowed down, trying to be a bit more deliberate, draw things out for her.

After making her wait for two years, he could wait a bit longer to make sure she enjoyed herself. He felt her orgasm begin to rumble inside her in the quiver of muscle around his and the tenor of her cries.

Just a little more effort ... he focused his breathing and rolling his hips to rub against her clit with each stroke until her body tightened and she gasped out a nonsense word of pure pleasure.

He roared, letting himself go, emptying his balls into her body as she cried out and whimpered and milked his shaft shamelessly for more. He didn't even pause in his strokes, giving her everything he had and every trick he'd learned from a lifetime of pleasing females.

* * *

"So, think those two are going to have a good time?" Marie asked with a smile as she and Jake started work on packing up the Clawson-Furlong house. She had an armful of clothes, old favorites and ones that would be difficult to replace, ready for a box they'd set out to start getting ready.

"Oh, I'm sure of it," Jake chuckled softly as he continued to sort his own clothing, selecting relatively little to bring with him. "No way he's not showing her the time of her life."

"Just hope he can live up to two years of fantasies," Marie snickered.

"He lived up to almost seven years of mine," he pointed out with a fond smile. "Keeps living up to them too."

"I guess I just didn't have as long to fantasize about the tabby," she winked. "So, anything you want me to be sure I remember to grab for you?" She asked him, putting her clothes away. "This'd be a lousy time not to think of something."

"The White Queen leathers," he grinned at her.

" _Why_ am I not surprised?" She laughed. "Mmm... I don't want to pack those _just_ yet though," she purred deeply.

"Oh?" Jake glanced over at her with a curiously intent expression.

"Why should Chance be the only one to spend part of this weekend rutting like he did during the honeymoon?" Marie grinned over at him.

"None at all," Jake chuckled and turned his attention back to sorting. "Though we should try to get at least _some_ of this done before he gets back."

"I know," she giggled, getting back to work, folding up the awards she'd gotten in the last few months and photographs that featured her family and friends. "Don't worry, I can focus," she reassured him, setting the frames aside to be packed up later. "I know you want most of this ready to toss in the TurboKat when Chance gets back. You want to take anything from work?"

"I packed those weeks ago," he said. "The one in the hall's the only really important one to us."

"Dad'd be flattered to hear that," Marie smiled. "Your designs are all packed already, I'm assuming ... what about the ones that Lurin had hidden?"

"What we could find of them," he nodded. "He was about as inclined to write things down as I am, and with at least as much reason."

"Yeah, but that armor of his... from the sound of it, that was pretty damned good," she said with a slight shrug. "Ever figure out how to engineer out the sonic weakness?"

"Yap," he chirped, finishing up sorting his clothing. "Care to see the goods we'll have to start a new life with?"

"Sure," she grinned. "Raw materials, or worked?"

"A mix, but mostly things that will sell well with few questions as to their origin," he said and walked to the living room. "Shades down, lights to full, sorting table out."

Marie watched the house comply, the table almost shimmering into existence as its composite frame flexed to position and a small charge locked it in place.

"Almost nine million in precious metals and cut stones," Jake said as he unlocked the walk-in safe in the wall and brought out a chest.

"Am I going to need to get something soft to faint into?" She asked, only half joking as he got ready to open the chest.

Jake looked up at her as he set the chest on the table, his expression uncertain. "That depends on how faint-worthy gems are to you."

"I was _mostly_ joking, Jake," she reassured him, reaching over to squeeze his shoulder. "Nothing that's named around here, I'm sure, so I shouldn't be _too_ shocked."

"No," he gave her a quick kiss and began to pour out gem bags onto the table, the emptying of the top layer displaying the gold bars below. "Things that are easily exchanged for local cash, no matter where we end up."

"About how much do you think they'll be worth back home? Better or worse than what they cost here?" She asked, looking through some of the mix of many kinds jewels. Most were cut, and all were a very good quality to her untrained eye. She was a bit surprised to more common ones such as tiger-eye and rosy quartz, though they were fine examples of their kind.

"It depends on where we are, and how long we take to liquidate them," he said pragmatically as he spread them out to give her a full sense of how much he had gathered over two years. "Most are worth comparable amounts, some are worth more, and a few are worth a great deal for the right buyer, but those buys are hard to come by."

"Always the case," she nodded. "I don't suppose you found anything that's unique to Earth?"

"Not that I know of, but it's not exactly my field, and I do want thing that will sell without too many questions about where I got them," he shook his head and spread the large double handful of opals out. "Anything that I don't recognize would just cause too many questions when I try to sell."

"True," she nodded. "Just occurred to me that it might be worth a good bundle if you found a buyer ... you're right though, I'm sure."

"The technology and knowledge we're bringing is worth _far_ more than any object," he chuckled and gave her a kiss. "This is just to get us to the point where the knowledge can keep us going. My tabbies are both used to a pretty high standard of living after all."

"Mmm ... I'm not _totally_ spoiled, just most of the way there," she giggled and kissed him back with a purr. "You keep me happy even without all the creature comforts," she winked.

"Maybe, but you have not see the other tabby pout when he looses his toys," he pulled her into his arms and nuzzled her, breathing deeply of the intoxicating scent that had first captured him. "I built that first TurboKat out of scrap to make that pout go away."

"Mmm ... well maybe we'll have to take along a few of the smaller toys he's got," she purred, pressing into him, nuzzling his neck. "Up for a little break, see if my leathers work on you as well as they did on our wedding night?" She asked with a playful wink.

Jake murred softly and drew her close before he played a single claw down her throat and between her breasts. "How about something a bit more unique?" he asked with a soft murmur that turned into a line of kisses down her jaw and neck. "Just you and me, no kink, no games, just slow, soft pleasure."

"I can do that too," she rumbled softly, pressing into his touch and leaning up to kiss him tenderly, running her hands along his back as they gently undressed each other, kissing and touching until he knelt and let his tongue caress her swelling lower lips.

"Oh yeah," she moaned softly, reaching down to scratch his scalp lightly, massaging his ears as she spread her legs for him. Through her fingers and through her sex she felt his pleasure at doing this, at her moans and the taste of her arousal, something even more intoxicating to him than her scent.

"Fuck, Jake," she whimpered, carefully shifting her weight, wrapping one leg around his shoulder as he ate her out, her pants around her ankle as she let his rough tongue send shivers of pleasure through her with each lick. "Better... let me return the favor later," she moaned.

"Anything you want, beautiful," he purred against her flesh, relishing the shivers he caused and even more the weight of her leg along his shoulder and back. "Anytime you want."

"Now then," she moaned, pulling her leg off of him, pushing him to the floor and kissing him hotly. "Sixty-nine, or should I just get you off so we can try to make it to bed?" She purred deeply.

"How about," he paused and twisted, rolling them over so he was on top of her and rubbed his hard-on against her sex. "I just take you now?"

"Oof! That works too," she grinned, spreading her legs and wrapping her arms around him. "Just thought you might like a warm up first," she winked before her attention was claimed by fierce kiss as he pressed into her open, slick body.

With a bit of a thrust he hilted inside her, then shifted his body up so he could lower his head and lap at her breasts.

"Oh Jake," she moaned, wrapping a leg around his hips, tilting her body up to take him even deeper into her hungry sex. "God, the things you do to me," she purred lustily, fighting the urge to pop her claws out and rake them down his back as long as she could, despite knowing the effect it would have on him.

He grinned and took one nipple between sharp front teeth to focus his tongue's attention on it, quite intentionally making the same pattern and movements he would with her clit.

She whimpered softly and gave in to the urge to claw his back lightly, milking his shaft with her sex. Her body clamped down around him as she threw her head back with a wordless cry of pleasure, coming hard.

As her body fluttered and tightened around him, Jake moaned and quickened his pace, eager to come while she was still lost in pleasure. Her body worked his rubbery barbs, sending bolts of pleasure through his balls, to his ass and up his spine until he slammed into her and roared as he shot ribbon after ribbon of thick seed into her body.

"Mmm ... _fuck_ that feels good," she moaned, kissing him deeply as they both came down a bit from their orgasms.

"Yeah, it does," he murmured and nuzzled her affectionately, then began to lick her neck and shifted to roll them over, leaving her on top of him this time. "So what would you like next?" he purred and thrust up into her.

"Ooh... anything in particular you want to try?" She grinned down at him, leaning up and shaking her fur out, making a consciously sexy display of her lean body. "Something new, maybe? I'm in a mood to play a bit," she winked.

"Well, now, I can't think of much we haven't tried yet," he purred deeply as he reached up and caressed her chest. "But I am definitely game to try anything for you."

"Mmm ... dangerous offer," she teased lightly, reaching leaning down to lick his chin, sitting up and starting to bounce on his shaft faster. "Oooh ... up for cleaning me out after you're done?"

"Always," he moaned as much from the prospects as from what his body was doing to his. "Love how we taste together."

"Oldie but ah ... oooh ... a goodie," she grinned, reaching down to scratch his chest lightly and pressed into his hands when he returned the contact. "Mmm... c'mon, honey, fill me up again," she moaned and squeezed her body around him as she continued to ride him, her breath coming in deepening pants.

"Definitely," he shuddered and slid his hands to her hips as he began to thrust up harder, his mouth open and his eyes drifting closed in their pleasure. With a deep moan he rotated his hands in to press her clit down, into his slick fur and the constant rubbing contact.

She threw her head back, giving a feral yowl as she clenched down around him, milking his barbed length with her insides and rubbing against him furiously. She was only vaguely aware that he was panting, thrusting into her as hard as he could but holding back.

A low sound of incredible desire escaped Marie's throat as she caught her breath. Without a chance to say anything, Jake pulled her mouth down to his with a hand on the back of her neck while his other arm hooked over her hips.

"Ohhh yes," he shuddered and thrust up again and again, pushing her to the peak of pleasure again, but this time controlling every movement from under her.

She whimpered and moaned, trying to hold back as well, clinging to him desperately as he reduced her from whimpers and moans to needy, hungry mewls of pleasure and longing, and to a half-choked scream of pleasure when he finally forced her over the edge.

With each breath making her body shudder, and the rest of her muscles lax from the pleasure and exertion, he kissed the top of her head and let out a slow, soft moan.

He ran both hands down her back, caressing her relaxed body before holding her hips again and slowly, gently, rolled his hips up until the slow burn turned off thought and he emptied his balls into her depths with a short gasp that soon echoed her moans.

"You ... are an absolute _bastard_ sometimes," she purred breathlessly, nuzzling his neck submissively. "And I love you for it," she added with a giggle. "At least you didn't make me beg this time."

"No begging today," he smiled and kissed her gently. "It's been too long since I reminded you that I don't _need_ all the games we usually play."

"Mmm ... not all of them, but I don't mind some," she purred lazily, kissing him back. "I've got an idea I'd like to try out while you clean up the mess you've made in my pussy," she rumbled, kissing him more heatedly.

"Well, then, why don't you tell me how you want me?" he nuzzled her affectionately.

"On your knees, between my legs ... I might need you to tie my hands up though, in case they give out," she giggled, licking his nose and pulling off of him with a low moan.

"I can hold you," he promised with a throaty purr as she pulled off him with a groan and stood. She moaned again deeply as he nuzzled her soaking sex, then slid his tongue along her entire slit.

"Good," she moaned, moving her foot to rub the silky, furry top of it against Jake's shaft and balls, tipping it up to take her weight on her heel, and let her use the rest of her foot along his slick member. Her toe-claws popped out, grazing his shaft and the sensitive skin at its base as she massaged his scalp.

"Ohhhh," he moaned into her flesh, desperately turned on by the subtle, sharp lines of pain despite his sated state. He redoubled his efforts to clean her out, tasting her pleasure mixed with his seed and shuddering with it.

"Like that?" She asked, purring deeply as she caught his stiffening cock between her toes, rubbing it, her claws prickling lightly along his member. She moaned, pressing her clit into his nose as his tongue pressed into her body, the rough surface pulling his seed and her juices out of her sex.

When she shuddered, she felt him grab her hips in both hands and help hold her upright as she felt her pleasure spike once more.

She needed it too; her knees wanted to give out, and if he hadn't been holding her they probably would have, dropping her on top of him.

He might enjoy pain, but that was an entirely different sort of situation, really.

Instead, she let him carry her over the edge, sure that he would keep her up, working his cock and trying to get him off along with her as their mingled juices flowed down his muzzle.

By the time she finished panting she was leaning on his head with both feet on the ground and focusing on just staying upright.

"Mmm, return the favor?" he purred and guided her to the floor to kiss her. "Or should I make another mess of you?"

"I was willing to return the favor _before_ you filled me up," she purred, pressing him back to the floor and kissing her way down his body, nuzzling his balls and rubbing her face against his rigid cock before licking him from base to tip.

"Oh yeah," he relaxed and let her work, his eyes drifting closed as he rubbed her ears and felt his balls gradually tighten at her sucking and tongue. He didn't make any effort to hold himself back from thrusting into her mouth, or the roar that came when he came.

She swallowed his seed, pressing her nose into his pubes with a happy purr that was only interrupted when she had to swallow a mouthful of his semen. As he finished, she fondled his balls lovingly, sliding up to kiss him, her breath tasting heavily of his pleasure.

"Mmm ... love you," she purred, snuggling close to him on the floor.

* * *

Zoe was enjoying snuggling with Chance well after daylight happened. She'd gotten up, wandered for a bit, had breakfast and snuggled back into bed without him doing more than murmuring when she pressed close again.

It was Sunday morning ... they only had the night and early the next day, less than twenty-four hours, before they'd be heading back. Then just a few more days and he'd be gone.

She traced her fingers through his fur, pressing up against him, just enjoying the way his powerful, furry body felt against her slender, smooth one. It had been one _Hell_ of a weekend so far, and they had another day all to themselves yet before it was over ... almost made her wonder just what they'd try yet, before having to go back, and if he'd have any time for her once they had.

"Morning, beautiful," he purred and slid a hand down her side, then back up to circle a thumb around her breast. "Any requests for breakfast?"

"Mmm ... how about a nice, big helping of beefcake?" She rumbled, wrapping her arms around him and pressing into his touch. "Maybe a little talk later?"

"I like the way you think," he grinned and kissed her with a long, slowly burning passion he'd quickly learned she responded best to despite her general lack of patience.

"Mmm...." She kissed him back, wrapping a leg around his, rubbing against him lightly. In just a few days, he'd found more ways to blow her mind than old boyfriends had in as many weeks. But this part, taking it slow and starting out, giving her time to get into it as much as he was, was still her favorite. "I was just thinking the same thing," she grinned as their lips parted.

With a smile he rolled them to their sides and began to kiss his way down to her breasts while one hand slipped down, playing lightly in her trimmed pubic hair until she lifted one leg to rest it on his to invite his fingers further in. She ran her hands down his back, her fingers playing at the spot above his tail she'd learned worked for him.

"Do you want to try something new today?" She asked him, whimpering softly as his thick fingers slipped into her sex. "Between us, anyways?"

"Sure," he said between suckling her breasts. "What do you have in mind?"

"Well, uhm...." She trailed off with a soft moan, pressing into his touch. "Do you really like taking a fem back here?" She asked, her fingers moving down a bit to trace lightly over the furless pucker of his ass. She felt it flex at her touch and his tail arch up, exposing himself to his lover.

"When they do," he lifted his head up to face her, doing his best to read her expression. "Do you want to try it?"

"If you do," she nodded slightly. "Just... slow, and gentle?" She asked him hopefully. "I've never done that before."

"I'd be honored to be first," he said in all honesty and kissed her. "That's something to definitely take slow and with plenty of lube."

"You and Jake don't," she snuggled against him and claimed several quick kisses.

"We learned that we don't need to," he explained gently, caressing her body with his free hand. "That's not for a first time."

"You have any then?" She asked him, thinking over what she'd seen that would do the job in the house if he hadn't. "I didn't exactly pack that."

"I did," he began to nuzzle her breasts again. "Some women need it even up front. First, a little warm-up?"

"Please," she grinned, squeezing his ass lightly and spreading her legs again. His fingers worked their magic until she all but whimpered and his fur was slick and wet. Without waiting for her to beg, he pressed her to her back and thrust into her hot, tight body with a growl.

"Oh yeah," she moaned, wrapping both her legs around him, savoring the way his barbed shaft filled her sex, the rubbery protrusions working her most intimate reaches. She knew his experience added to how good it felt, but she didn't really care to think too hard on it. He just made it so easy to forget everything that sex had become in her generation between AIDS and the rise of the Religious Right. At least she didn't have to worry about accidentally getting pregnant with Chance.

"Shu, no thinking," Chance crooned in her ear and kissed her, doing his best to help her do just that.

"Sounds good," she whimpered into his mouth, squeezing down a bit around his shaft, letting him take all the concerns away and replace them with the pleasure he was so very, very good with.

* * *

Chance tipped the Turbokat's nose up a bit as he landed in front of the bunker where Zoe still lived with her father.

"Thank you for a wonderful weekend," she leaned forward from the back seat to squeeze his shoulder as they touched down lightly. "I'll remember it for a long time."

"Good," he reached back and squeezed her hand. "Ready to go back to reality?"

"Only if I have to," she smiled as the canopy slid back. "Which I guess means yes."

"Same here," he leapt down, and assisted her to the ground. "It was a great weekend," he murmured and kissed her soundly, wishing dearly he had more time to teach her how good pleasure could be. He knew scars were there, and he knew he could have helped heal them with more time.

"We all have scars," she smiled and hugged him close. "Thank you. I don't suppose you could stay?"

"I ... I could," he hesitated. "It wouldn't be fair, Zoe. Jake's stayed here two years for Marie, and an extra month beyond that so we could have this weekend. I can't ask him for more. It's killing him inside."

"I hate the law sometimes," she suddenly fumed, then sighed. "You're right, it's not fair to him."

"Thank you, for understanding," he kissed her again, softly this time in parting. "Have a good life, Zoe. If you ever find yourself on Aristal, you'll have a place in my home for as long as you want or need it."

She smiled and kissed his nose before stepping back. "Don't take this wrong, but I hope I don't see you again."

"I don't," he promised and leapt into the cockpit, the canopy sliding forward to cut him off from the outside. He saw her watch him take off before she turned to go home, and he set his mind to prepare to return to a much less pleasant life on the world he'd been born to.

It didn't take long before he set down in Global's main hanger, making mindless good-byes as he worked his way to Marie's car in the parking lot. His thoughts were on what home meant, and what he was going to miss after being in Eureka long enough to get used to it.

It wasn't long enough, and yet too long, before he pulled into lot he'd called home for nearly three years, and instantly went on alert. It wasn't nearly as empty as it should be, or as organized as he expected with their departure to be as soon as he could double-check that they hadn't missed anything, and he knew full well they wouldn't.

He went inside carefully; the past two years had been fairly quiet for them, really. He'd been hoping that they'd just managed to reach sort of a break-even point with the universe... that after taking out Dark Kat and dealing with everything Eureka had thrown at them, that somebody had decided they'd had enough and went back to the more normal crises that Eureka tended to spawn, instead of the nastier ones that had seemed to follow them from MKC.

Now, so close to leaving... the paranoid part of his mind was wondering if that same somebody had just been saving up for one last stab at them.

Fortunately, as he made it inside and took a sniff, he realized exactly what had happened.

"And you two say _I_ get distracted too easily!" He called out into the house with a laugh as he closed the door behind himself. They'd managed to get the packing about half done, from the looks of it ... maybe they could add the security records from the house to what they took with them.

"We couldn't leave you to have all the fun while we did all the work," Marie teased back as she came out of the back room with large box in her arms and added it to the neat pile in the living room. "There's plenty of both for a bit yet."

"Well, I guess you _did_ get about half of it done," he teased back, giving her a light kiss. "Where's Jake? All tied up?"

"Not any more," she laughed and turned to head into the back room. "He's packing all the jewelry I suggested would sell at a higher price than the loose stones he had picked out."

"Not your mother's necklace, right?" Chance asked, looking over at her.

"No!" Marie said, shaking her head sharply as they walked back to where Jake was examining and then packing a wide variety of jewelry and small artistic pieces. "That's coming, but it's _not_ getting sold ... it's waiting for us to have a daughter, even if I'm not necessarily the mother."

"Have a good weekend?" Jake grinned up at Chance.

"Oh yeah," Chance grinned broadly. "Zoe's a Hell of a girl ... going to be a handful for whoever she settles down with," he chuckled. "So, that's what our savings got turned into?" He asked curiously, looking at the jewelry and mentally calculating more money than he'd seen in his life.

"Part of it, yes," Jake nodded as he brought up a simple silver star with a ruby in the middle and examined it for quality. "This is the last quarter of it."

"The last _quarter_ of it?" Chance asked, his tail fluffing at the thought of what that probably added up to.

"We make extremely good money here, especially with three salaries and investments," Jake smiled at him. "I figured around nine million in all, though I'm not as sure what it will all go for on Aristal."

Chance let out a low whistle.

"Even with MKC prices, that'll keep us out of the Salvage Yard if we want to get out," he murmured.

"We'll have to," Jake reminded him. "After this long, the odds that they _don't_ know we're SWAT is pretty low."

"Yeah, but if Feral had the chance, he'd have us working there with the hangar filled in just to watch the frustration," the tabby muttered.

"I thought we weren't going to try and stay in MegaKat City?" Marie looked between them.

"Any excuse to bust on Feral," Chance chuckled grimly. "So, what do you guys want me to help get loaded first?"

"The boxes in the living room," Jake waved in that direction. "I'll be done in a couple hours, I think."

"Come on, he said that yesterday too," Marie giggled.

"And I would have been, if you hadn't kept sitting in my lap," Jake teased her back.

"Sure, blame your wife," she smirked, leaning over to lick his cheek. "Mmm ... you were _just_ as much a part of it as I was," she added, flicking her tail up as she headed out with Chance to start moving some of the boxes.

"Anything we've missed that you've spotted so far?" She asked him easily.

"Security footage from this weekend?" he grinned at her and hefted two boxes easily.

"Already set up," she giggled, picking up one herself. "Think Jake'll be able to get a converter set up for running that sort of thing on Aristal?"

"I'd be shocked if he hasn't already," he chuckled and walked out to where Blackie was parked very close to the back door.

"True... he's had two years of knowing it was coming," she nodded. "So... ready to head back home?"

"I guess," he murmured, not at all convincingly. "Ready or not, it's time to go, and ... well, you've seen what the wait's already done to Jake. I can't ask for more."

"Yeah," she nodded, sighing a bit. "Sometimes, I almost wish I _had_ just decided to stay ... it would've been a lot easier on him. I just don't understand that Kat sometimes."

"I doubt even Beverly understands him," he said as they stacked the boxes in the immaculately organized bomb bay. "As close as I ever got was when I realized that he's condemned to serve a God he hates passionately and is just trying to make the best of it. I remember how much I hated answering to Feral, having to do what he said, and what _he_ managed to do to us when we didn't. Give him the power of a God ...." he shuddered. "Bastet may not be Feral, but the level of choice Jake has in his life ... it can do things to you."

"I suppose," she nodded. "And I've never had to do anything like that, so I can't really say. I guess part of it is just that two years doesn't seem like that long to me, particularly with what I think I'll be able to do for him and his family."

"He hates his family almost as much as he hates being a God's puppet," Chance pointed out. "He'd give you more, if you asked for it. He'd give _me_ time if I asked for it. I just can't be that selfish."

"And neither can I," she agreed, putting the box of clothes where it could be stacked on easily. "I'm not about to ask for more from him ... it's not easy leaving, but I do _want_ to go with you guys."

"Hey, I'm not so hot on the idea of leaving, but I can't stay without him," Chance shrugged as they headed back for more boxes. "I swear I'll kill you if he finds out, but I know he's turned down two offers to do design work, because they wouldn't take me too. I don't know if I could do the same thing, if I got offered my uniform and wings back. Might not always be easy to live with, but it's a small price for that kind of loyalty."

"Yeah ... did he really think you wouldn't have stayed with him if he'd taken the shot?" She asked him quietly before they got into the house.

"I couldn't have," he said and paused there to look at her seriously. "Remember, we weren't at the Yard by choice. If my fines weren't paid too, I'd be stuck there, even if he was free and clear."

"Gah, that mess," she growled, her ears flat and tail lashing. "That was all sorts of fucked up ... at least _that_ ought to be gone when you get back."

"Only until Feral finds out we're alive," he grumbled and opened the door. "Then he'll just add dereliction of duty, overdue payment fines and anything else he could think of. We're as screwed as anybody could get in that place. Omegas have a better shot of finishing their time than we do."

"Well, he's not going to have the chance," she said certainly. "And if he tries it ... it's not going to work. One way or another, we'll get us all safe back on your world."

"And settled someplace relatively safe," Chance agreed as they picked up more boxes. "Do you have any plans for what to do when we do find a place?"

"You mean like work, or more in general?" She asked him as they started out with another load.

"Job. You know you'll loose all your credentials ... you don't exactly work in a field that you can just show up and impress the boss to get in."

"No, but if we can get by long enough, I ought to be able to run rings around any academic course you could name... and then there's the side of things that I've never really had cause to do in Eureka. I can take myself public, so to speak. I might not be able to just show up and impress the boss, but marketing pets like Razzle... it's not low-profile, but it's potentially lucrative. Sounds like the limits on what I could do are a lot lower, generally, too."

"Most places, it's none," he nodded. "Governments tend to be more concerned with what you do with your creations, not what you create."

"So as soon as I can get my gear adjusted to local conditions, I'll have what I need to get started," she nodded. "Even if I can't get most of it to work, it sounds like I'd have the monopoly on AI technique and technology. _That's_ pretty much universal."

It took Chance a long moment to figure out that she meant 'artificial insemination' rather than the 'artificial intelligence' he was used to AI being the reference for.

"Probably," he nodded. "I'm sure it'll all work. You've got Jake to help. He wouldn't use the space for something he wasn't fairly sure would be useful."

"Oh, I think it will too," she agreed easily. "I just wanted to make sure I had plans in case it didn't too."

"You sound like Jake there," he chuckled as they stacked the boxes in the TurboKat and headed for more.

"When you're talking the difference between fame and comfort and hoping the stock market doesn't put you on the street, it's worth it," she giggled. "Besides, I think Aristal's ripe for rainbow-feathered kitties," she winked.

"Speaking of which, where is she?" Chance asked, glancing at the door that had been open for some time now.

"Teasing Chien by flying just high enough he can't reach her and dangling her tail low," Marie chuckled. "We took her over to Dad's earlier; we'll pick her up after most of the packing's done."

Chance paused outside the house again, glancing at the translator in its customary position near her ear, much like his own. "Just how good do you understand us without that?"

"Just short of technical terms," she told him easily. "Jake's been giving me some lessons... I'll need it to catch up on the jargon and such, but I can pass for somebody who's speaking your language and not too experienced with it."

"Probably want to keep that handy then, even if not in such an obvious spot," he said thoughtfully. "Probably too late for it, but I bet that could be hidden in an earring or something."

"Chance, we're in Eureka," she grinned. "If we've got a few days, we can probably find somebody who'd do it ... and it's a good idea. Two years and I never thought of it," she admitted sheepishly.

"You think we really have a few days?" he glanced towards the room where Jake was working.

"That'd depend," she admitted. "Though it might only take a few hours to get it converted ... I'm not sure, have to ask Henry."

"Can't hurt to ask," he suggested as they went inside again.

"Mind if I call while you take out a load?" She asked him, nodding towards some of her larger lab equipment that was already boxed and loaded onto a cart.

"Sure thing," he waved her off and hefted the handles to roll it out, absently wondering why they weren't using any of the anti-grav lifters he'd seen around town.

Oh well... it was hardly the first time he'd moved like this. As he wheeled it out, he looked around some of the things that _were_ still on the walls. As he glanced up at the hooks that were still in the ceiling, he wondered absently if whoever moved in here would get the same mileage out of them that they had... or for the same purposes.

It was a little weird, picturing another set of people in the place he'd come to think of as 'theirs.'

Thinking about leaving it was weirder, even after two years knowing it was coming.

It was what it told him about his partner that really unsettled him though. This was everything he'd always thought Jake wanted, everything Jake _said_ he wanted, but nearly from the beginning, they both knew it wasn't going to work. Having respect, accolades, money and the freedom to do damn near anything he wanted and see it in production ... it was barely enough to make him shrug. The passion he'd always seen in the hanger was gone.

Chance froze as it hit him. He glanced back at the room his mate was working in and wondered if Jake knew why he wasn't happy with everything he'd ever said he'd wanted.

"Something wrong?" Marie asked as she came out with a box in her hands and saw him standing so very still.

"Just finally hit me why Jake's been so unhappy," he murmured, shaking his head. "Stupid of me not to realize it before."

"Okay ...." she drew the word out, trying to get him to explain.

"Sorry. I think he lived for the challenge of what SWAT was, technically," he said. "You've never seen him there, the passion I lived with all those years that hasn't been here, but I think what he really gets off on might just be turning junk into better-than-modern equipment."

"Even without anybody else knowing what it is he can do?" She paused, looking back at Jake, though he was hidden by a way. "You might actually be right, you know? It would explain a lot...."

"Yeah it would," he nodded. "What would what people know matter to somebody who answers to the Gods, and knows it?"

"True ... you think going home is going to help him with that?" She asked him quietly. "If you two give up SWAT, it might not...."

"I don't know," he signed and pushed the cart to their jet. "I just know that Eureka hasn't been good for him in a lot of ways. Even at its worse, MKC was better than this for him."

"Let's hope he can find it again... I think he just blames it on getting older, and getting tired." Marie followed him into the jet and stacked her box with the others.

"There's that too," he admitted as he carefully moved a crate from cart to a spot in the bomb bay. "I really don't know, not anymore."

"Well... I hope that going home will do the trick. I love him, but it sounds like the Jake you had would be even better," she smiled slightly. "Henry says the mod should just take an hour or two, mostly making sure the earring will fit the translator. You and Jake want yours modified too?"

"Wouldn't hurt, but we don't exactly wear earrings," he pointed out, then flicked his ears and looked towards the front. "I think the goodbye gathering is starting."

"This is going to be the 'fun' part," Marie murmured. "Well, let's go... I'll try to get mine modified; it'll be good to have at any rate."

"At least Cindy and Zoe have already covered their goodbyes," he shook his head and headed inside with her just in time to see Jake open the door and step back in surprise, his ears flicked back and tail half-tucked between his legs.

"Is something wrong, Jake?" Marie asked, smiling as she stepped up behind him to see her father, Taggart, and Jo outside, the puppies nearby. She was sure he was just startled, but it didn't hurt to ask.

"No," he shook his head and stepped back. "Just wasn't expecting a posse."

"Jake, they're just here to say good bye," Marie chuckled, stepping out and giving her father a hug. "Right?"

"Yes, dear," he smiled and kissed her forehead. "While I'm sure there are folks who would do almost anything not to lose him, we just wish you all well."

"You'll notice that Stark _isn't_ here," Carter chuckled as Marie purred and hugged her father again before stepping back. "Between his best test pilot, best designer, and the media's favorite biologist all leaving at once, I think he's going into mourning."

"As long as it's not plotting," Jake murmured, shaking his head before he nodded to them and turned to go back to work, nearly running square into Chance's big frame.

"They're here for you too," the golden tabby pointed out with a tolerant sigh of frustration for his mate's terminal sense of unimportance.

"We are!" Mina yipped from where she was waiting with the other pups, who were all clearly just waiting for Taggart's permission before swarming the two Kats they'd come to like more than most humans.

That got a kind of shy smile from Jake as Chance let him go and he turned to face the gathering of people he spent more time with than anyone short of his assistants.

"Go ahead, Taggart," Marie giggled. "They look like they're about to explode."

Taggart gave them a slight gesture, and all four pups rushed forward, yipping happily in a cacophony of words and sounds the translator wasn't up for yet, but everyone understood well enough anyway. When Jessie started to jump on Jake, Mina tackled her, sending the pair, now over three hundred pounds and the size of black bears, from sending the Kat to the ground.

"Stop that," Jessie snarled at her sister.

"No jumping on small people," Mina snapped back, though she let Jessie up.

"Those two get along about as well as they ever have," Marie murmured. "I almost wish there was some way to send messages back and forth... see what they're like as they grow up."

"I'd _hope_ that's not the only messages you'd send, if you could," Jean chuckled, squeezing her shoulder lightly. "You've picked a Hell of a way to move out on your own."

"I know," she hugged him tightly. "It's further than I was hoping to go too. Sometimes life doesn't go with our plans."

"Just take care with what you dare the universe to do where you are going," Jo said quietly with a cautious look for the two Kats still well-occupied by four bear-sized puppies. "From all accounts, it's likely to answer you."

"Yeah, but I dare you to find me two better people to explore it with," she smiled. "You're going to have to find a new sparring partner who can keep up with you," she grinned over at the deputy.

"I know," she grumbled, then glanced at the Kats. "At least it's for the best this time. Even if Chance doesn't understand it well, even he knows they don't belong here. They have work left to do at home."

"Which is just her way of saying she'll miss you all terribly," Taggart took Marie's hands in his. "Take care, and if you ever find yourself on Earth again, look us up."

"Where else would I go?" She half-joked, though there was a very real question behind it. "Who knows, maybe your Sasquatch friends can find a way between them ... if they do, just don't let Jake know, I think he'd have a coronary trying to close it off."

"He'd manage it too, I'm sure," Jean nodded, noticing how the tom in question had extricated himself from the puppies by focusing them on Chance and promptly slipped away into the back rooms somewhere.

"I mean to look us up even if we aren't in Eureka anymore, or Eureka is no more," Taggart explained.

"You're not planning on leaving too, are you?" She asked curiously.

"Ah, nah, at least not for any long time," Taggart chuckled. "But you know how things can happen ... you weren't planning on it either, when you made the choice."

"True," she nodded, glancing over as her mother's car pulled up. She took a deep breath; even after two years of getting along better, she wasn't entirely comfortable with this particular farewell.

She just wasn't sure if it was because of the fact it was her mother, or if it was because she had problems with saying goodbye so soon after they'd started getting along.

"Should we be ready for trouble?" Carter asked quietly.

"I don't _think_ so... but it's good that Jake's in the back right now," she murmured. "If there's anybody in town who'd try strapping us down until we agreed to stay...."

"She's not that crazy," Chance countered before Jessie had his attention again.

"That would be Stark," Jean chuckled and nodded to his ex-wife when she came close.

She returned the gesture, then hugged her daughter when Marie stepped forward to break the ice a bit. It was still awkward, for both of them. Marie clearly expected an attempt to talk her out of going ... and Jessica, to be honest, wasn't sure if she was right to do so or not.

"I always had a feeling that something like this would happen eventually," she murmured, stepping back from Marie a bit. "Ever since you started seeing Jake. Are you going to be happy?" She asked Marie softly.

"I ... don't know, for sure," she admitted, flicking her ears a little uncomfortably with the admission. "But I _do_ know that I'd be miserable staying here, without them. I ... think I've done what I was meant to here, honestly. I've proven that the Moreaus aren't _all_ mad scientists ... at least not the bad kind," she chuckled slightly. "And now, I've got a chance to go to a new world, all new types of life, and maybe start making changes that are just as big, in their own way, for them. And with all of it ... I've got Jake and Chance both."

"And they're both a _lot_ better than I gave them credit for, at first," Jessica nodded slightly, glancing over at Chance. "You two take care of her for me ... and any grandchildren I might end up having some day."

"Thank you, and we will," he promised in all seriousness, extending a hand to her in offer to make it as binding as any word he gave. He almost said something about how big a family it would be, if they followed Furlong tradition, but thought better of it when he remembered that both Marie and Jake were only children and might not want to.

Jessica shook his hand, then gave Marie another hug and a light kiss on the forehead.

"If you ever find a way to send a message back to Earth, let us know how you're doing," she murmured, stepping back.

"I will, Mom," Marie promised. "Well... we've got a lot of extra packing to do, so unless you guys want to help...?"

"We will!!" Jessie yipped excitedly. "Where Razzle?"

"Over at Dad's place, teasing Chien," Marie chuckled. "Chance? Think you can figure out anything they can help with while I take my translator to Henry's? I'm not sure if Razzle's up to being herded just yet."

"Sure," he chuckled. "As long as their folks are okay with them hanging out," he winked at Taggart.

"Just make sure they get back before it's too late," Taggart chuckled. "I think it'll be good for them to do some work, instead of just playing."

"We work!" Terra barked.

"Digging in the yard doesn't count," Zack pointed out. "C'mon, let's go!"

"Just don't break anything," Chance laughed and gave Marie a kiss before she headed to her car, along with the rest if the gathering.


	29. A Wild Ride

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When the guys return home, things are much as they expected, except for all the important details.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written with Karl Wolfemann

"She'll be here, Jake," Chance promised his mate as the two of them climbed into the TurboKat, now packed with their things, ready for the move. "Probably just a little delay at Henry's with getting the translator working; you know how he is about testing things until they're perfect. So, should we suit up before heading back?"

"Now you ask?" Jake looked at him with something of a laugh and shake of his head before he pushed the seat back and retrieved their gear. "Probably a good idea."

"You didn't think of it either," Chance pointed out with a laugh of his own and leapt to the ground to change as Jake came out with their uniforms. "Besides, I wasn't sure if Marie'd be back by now or not."

"You wanted to tease her!" he accused his mate with a grin as they stripped down 

"Whether he wanted to or not, he's doing a decent job of it," Marie grinned from around the edge of the house. "I didn't think I was taking _that_ long to get back," she teased.

"We were just changing, honest!" Chance grinned back.

"Suuure you were," she giggled, walking back, her translator gone and replaced with a pair of simple stud earrings near the base of her ears. "If I'd been five minutes longer, I'd've caught you two fucking right on the wing, I'll bet!"

"Probably not, but it's a nice idea," Chance winked at Jake, who just rolled his eyes.

"Like you wouldn't have loved it," she teased and walked up to give him a kiss. "So Razzle's all boxed up?"

"Not happy about it, but yeah," Chance nodded, pulling his flight suit on, zipping it up, and then pulling his mask around his head. "We put her carrier cage next to your seat ... figured she might do better with somebody close by, and Razor'll be handling the dimensional shift."

"Do you guys think those'll be needed, or is it more a just in case?" she asked and gave T-Bone a lingering kiss before turning to claim a breath-stealing one from her husband.

"Just in case, mostly," T-Bone said easily, climbing up into the cockpit. "After all... if Feral _has_ been too busy to bother checking on what was up at the 'Yard, no good spoiling the surprise for him by showing up out of uniform," he chuckled grimly.

"And who knows what's happened in the last two years," Razor added as he helped settled Marie in her seat, got her breathing gear and made sure her force-field belt was on and working.

"Well, only one way to find out," Marie pointed out, settling in and taking a few breaths to adjust to the mask. She was fairly comfortable in the gear, but something about breathing through the mask was still unusual to her.

"Very true," T-Bone grinned as Razor took his seat. "So, everybody comfortable? This trip's gonna be out of this world," he said, barely ducking the shoe that Marie pulled off and threw at him without even getting out of her seat. "Sorry," he grinned unrepentantly behind his mask.

"No you aren't," Razor laughed and slid the cockpit closed on the three-seat fighter. "Let's go home, T-Bone."

"Roger," he grinned and lifted off, taking them on a leisurely course to a spot well outside Earth and the Moon's gravity wells, and giving Marie a long last look at her homeworld from the vantage most dreamed of and few got.

"So... how does Aristal compare to Earth for a view like this?" She asked as Razor worked the controls to set up the jump.

"More greens, yellows and browns," T-Bone said. "Our seas are more greenish than blue, the land more brown than green and gold and the air more yellow, but the basic gist is similar."

"I'll get used to it, I'm sure," she smiled. "Any idea how long until we go?"

"Shu, love," Razor crooned to her. "Relax and enjoy the view. We'll be a few hours getting far enough out."

"Didn't know there was that much to it," she admitted sheepishly, settling back for the ride and just enjoying the view so few got. She knew her husband and lover were trying to make it a good last memory of Earth for her.

* * *

Marie moaned, her entire body wracked with pain. She decided she felt worse than for her transformation. She was sure her entire insides had been ripped out and shoved back in several times, not always in the right place.

"Marie!" Razor's nearly frantic voice was laced with his own pain, but his concern overrided it all. "Marie," his voice softened after she tried to respond. "You're okay. The painkillers should kick in soon. Just hold on."

"You too," she managed to murmur as she realized she was breathing in fresh, dry air that was fairly warm. "Chance?"

"Same as you and me," Razor said, then paused as he fought back a whimper from pain in his ribs and heart. "Trip was a bitch, but even Razzle's okay. Jet, Blackie and Sting made it too."

"I figured those three would be...." She winced, trying to sit up. "Sit down, need to see what sort of shape you're in," she said, trying to focus on something other than how much she hurt from the trip through dimensions. "Shit, it _can't_ be this nasty from Earth to Fairy...."

"It's not," Razor complied and settled on the ground near her. "But that's between two worlds that were meant to be one. What we did is something very different. It should calm down once our nervous systems settle down."

"Good ... any idea how flashy our entrance was?" She asked, trying to move enough to see if Razor looked seriously injured.

"Very flashy, according to Blackie, but we were far enough out in space that they won't know where to look for us," he assured her as she figured out that he was still in uniform and not bleeding. "We were all unconscious, so she brought us in. She said our bio-scans showed no actual injuries. What we're feeling is our nervous system going bonkers for a while. It's dying down, slowly."

"Okay," she murmured, taking the explanation at face value since it let her collapse in a heap and listen to Razzle let out a low, pained feline moan until it finally changed to a soft purr that seemed even closer than it should be.

She opened her eyes to still-dark skies, though the stars were now largely gone in the false dawn. It didn't take long to focus on Razor, lying next to her, and then down to the fluffy white cat with bright feathers that he was stroking.

"Cat's nervous system calmed down ... ours oughta come soon then," she murmured, shifting with a grunt as the pain did start to settle out. "Okay... I think I'm glad we won't be going back any time soon. Blackie have any sign that somebody's out here?"

"The city is intact, and the towns we passed over as well, but no one is close to us," Razor assured her. "Whatever has happened, it looks about like what we left."

"Except that the Hanger's been breached and is occupied," T-Bone grumbled as he walked up to them, his body stiff from pain but pushing through it. "Any ideas anyone might have entertained about crashing there for a few days are shot."

"For what it's worth, I don't think we had any," Marie murmured. "You've already hiked out there? How far away is it?"

"Hell no," T-Bone snorted. "Jet's scanners did the checking on the way over."

"There were some hopes of at least getting our personal items back, and the gear we still had here," Razor admitted. "A lot of our life was there."

"Some of it we might be able to get back yet," Marie mused. "Depending on what the next of kin laws are like ... don't know how that works here, but it might be possible. I'm sorry you ended up losing so much though ... it _was_ still home for you, I suppose."

"Not much of a home, but a bit of one," T-Bone nodded. "Most of the stuff there wasn't ours, of course... another issue, really."

"Assuming whoever took over even bothered to give it to our folks," Razor muttered. "We've both lost more important things. It's not going to matter."

"You know, if the Hanger was breached, our stuff might still be there," T-Bone said thoughtfully. "No one would care with what was _under_ the living quarters."

"I can ask the Enforcers, say I as married to you somewhere else and only got word now," Marie suggested.

"Too dangerous," Razor shook his head sharply, his arms tightening around Razzle when she tried to get away. "Time for her to get in her carrier, and us to see what's left of our stuff."

"Right," T-Bone nodded, grabbing the carrier and getting it open. "Marie, you should stay with the jet when we go in."

"Not going to argue with you there," she sighed, getting up and helping to get Razzle into the carrier.

"Now _there's_ a difference from most of the fems we've dated," T-Bone chuckled slightly.

"She's seen what we draw the attention of," Razor pointed out with a grin.

"I have survival instincts," she countered with a wink. "So just how close are we going to get before you go in on foot?"

"Under a mile," Razor said. "Our stealth has improved a lot faster than their scanners."

"And, just in case it _does_ happen," she asked, moving Razzle's carrier back into the jet, "what do I do if somebody trips over Blackie on a patrol or something?"

"The odds anyone _could_ see her through the camo net are incredibly low, but if it happens, trust Blackie to out-fly anything out there," Razor assured her with a kiss. "She's been doing it a long time."

"Okay," she smiled, kissing him back. "In that case, just be careful ... I don't know that I want to see Blackie if she has to pull a jailbreak for you guys."

"It'll be explosive," Razor promised her with a chuckle as they all got settled in the cockpit. "It won't happen."

"Good," Marie nodded, settling back for a shorter, more comfortable trip than the one that had gotten them here in the first place.

Just a few minutes later, T-Bone and Razor were stalking through the Salvage Yard, approaching their old home.

"Well, looks like they found the Hangar," T-Bone muttered, seeing the two guards there. "They wouldn't be here if they hadn't ... not after two, three years."

"Five," Razor said quietly as he calculated the odds of each way in. "It should have been barely more than one, but I guess the shift included a temporal one as well. Safest route is probably going in from the southern escape tunnel."

"Let's just hope they haven't figured out that it's there," T-Bone murmured quietly, starting to creep towards the outer end of the tunnel, large enough for a cyclotron but not much more. Reaching it, he hit the stud on the inside of his Glovatrix to trigger it, causing the hidden panel in the ground to slide back out of the way.

Well, at least nobody was sitting there waiting for them.

Razor nodded to him and headed in first, his night-vision activating as the HUD slid down in front of his eyes. They moved carefully, on guard for any additions from when they'd last been there, and found nothing.

"Okay, I'm starting to get nervous now," T-Bone muttered quietly, making his way towards the door another twenty yards in towards the building. "Ready?" He asked Razor, reaching up for the hidden switch on this side of the door.

"Ready," Razor nodded, his glovatrix lifted to fire on anything nasty on the far side.

T-Bone hit the switch, moving back and raising his own weapon as the door quickly opened to reveal their empty locker room ... empty, but open to the lit hangar beyond.

"Of course it wouldn't be deserted," the tabby grumbled. "Switching to net launcher."

"That'd be way too easily," Razor agreed with a grumble and scanned the large space with his HUD sensors. "Nothing warm."

"So grab stuff and go, or keep looking around?" T-Bone nearly whispered, stepping out into the hangar. "Your call."

"We look," he decided and began to make careful progress into the space that had once been their sanctuary. "I need to know what's been taken."

T-Bone just nodded, following his partner; Razor knew better what would or wouldn't be there, what had been moved ... he was still nervous about the lights though. The hangar was empty, but somebody must have been there recently. He was just grateful that the obvious guards made it pretty clear Feral wasn't trying to leave a trap set up for their return.

Five years ... even that bastard would have given up by now. It really should surprise him that there was anything left here after so long. It was testament to how complex a system Jake had created that anyone was still finding new things after so long.

Razor signaled him stand guard while he hooked into their main computer ... not the obvious one on the wall, but the one built into the structure itself.

He moved into location, where he could watch the other entrances to the room and try to block his partner from being seen from them. Of course, it meant that he _could_ be seen ... but there wasn't much way to avoid that. He kept his glovatrix ready, the nets ready to fire at any sign of an intruder or guard.

Behind him were the soft clicks and snicks of Razor doing his thing with the mainframe. It felt like an eternity, even though he knew it was only a few minutes, before there was a soft tap on his shoulder and they moved on to the first of the secondary hanger spaces where Jake did his work.

Here it was easiest to see that the place had been gone over with a fine-toothed comb. Walls that had been filled with missiles were empty, some samples carefully disassembled, others just missing. The Enforcers had probably managed to improve their weapons a solid ten years based on what they'd found there... and Pumadyne had probably taken the credit for Razor's work, again.

It was the sort of thing that was _really_ starting to get under T-Bone's skin as they looked around. He couldn't be sure what to make of the lack of irritation his partner was showing at it all. Their entire lives, dismantled and the credit given to others, and Razor didn't even twitch at it.

"I expected it," he answered in a low whisper as they made their way to the back workshop, past their half-empty armory. They stocked up on everything they could, and left the rest for their way out.

Both toms froze at the sound of someone talking and of work being done on something.

T-Bone's ears swiveled, finding the direction of the sound. He indicated the side-lab he thought was occupied, and signed for whether or not Razor agreed with him. A faint nod was given, and they got on either side of the door.

T-Bone glanced inside, and saw a single platinum blond shekat with chocolate brown fur working on something on one of the benches that Jake had used for so many years. He couldn't tell what she was working on, but she was talking to herself while she fiddled with it.

Razor raised his hand, counting down on his fingers for them to rush her.

There was no need to say anything; when the time came, they both rushed forward, moving swiftly and silently. T-Bone grabbed her from behind, getting his gloved hand over her mouth to keep her from screaming as Razor made sure her hands were back so she couldn't set off an alarm or drop anything to attract the guards.

Razor nodded to him, and T-Bone released a small amount of knock-out gas right in front of her nose. He watched as her eyes rolled back, then her body went limp into Razor's arms.

After they settled her in the back of the room, Razor walked to the table to check out what she'd been fiddling with.

T-Bone frowned for a moment, until he recognized the pile of bits and pieces as one of Jake's power armor experiments that never had worked right.

"At least they don't have that yet," T-Bone muttered. "Any idea who this is?" He asked, motioning to the shekat on the floor. He wasn't sure how long she'd take to come to, so he grabbed some rope from nearby to tie her up with; the usual gear they hadn't bothered with yet.

"No clue, and she should be down for several hours," Razor said as he made a quick examination of her work. "Come on," he motioned for his partner to follow, unconcerned that they were leaving a witness unsecured. "We'll be done before she's up."

* * *

Carlie Silktail moaned as she struggled to find enough coordination to get up. As her brain began to click into gear and she realized why she was on the floor, she first thanked Bastet that she was alive. 

The SWAT Kats weren't known to be dangerous to anyone, but no one she knew of had ever been caught in their lair before either. She was lucky they'd only knocked her out.

As she struggled to her feet, she looked around. To no surprise, the two toms were long gone, though they did leave the flawed power armor she'd been working on. The parts weren't all in the same place, so they, more likely Razor, had examined it and decided it wasn't worth taking with them.

With careful steps Carlie made her way to the main entrance, the one that led up to the surface and the Enforcers on guard.

"You'd better get some sleep tonight, Carlie... looks like it's been a long shift," one of the guards observed... Private Jim Rackham, she thought. A lot more of them knew her better than she knew them, thanks to the different shifts. "Everything okay down there?"

"Yes, it has been, and yes," she nodded. "The SWAT Kats came back. We need to alert the Mayor and Commanders Feral and Keller."

"Hold on, nobody's been in or out of here all night," Rackham protested. "And they haven't been back for years!"

"Do you really think they'd try to come in the front door with you standing there?" she swished her tail in agitation. "I was within a few inches of them both. If it wasn't the original SWAT Kats, it's a couple toms who are doing a very impressive impersonation. Look, whoever, or whatever, ambushed me in there looked and acted like the SWAT Kats. That by itself is enough to call them at this hour."

"They ambushed you? Are you okay?" He asked, even as he pulled out his communicator. "HQ, we've got a SWAT sighting; Dr. Silktail says they were _in the hangar_ , get down here and have somebody call the Commanders!"

"Yes, I'm fine, just a little shaky," she nodded. "They're long gone."

"Roger," a female voice responded. "Three units should be there in under ten minutes, a CSI shortly after that."

"Roger... hey, get the air units out here, they might be taking off soon," the Private advised. "Haven't seen anything yet, but the TurboKat's gotta be around here somewhere if they are!"

"They could easily have used Cyclotrons. Those bikes make short work of distance," Carlie pointed out with a sigh. "The jet could be anywhere, if it still exists."

"It's worth a shot, isn't it?" Rackham pointed out, turning off his communicator. "What'd they do? I should get your report down now, while we're waiting," he said, pulling out his pad and pen.

"They both rushed me while I was working on the power armor. T-Bone covered my mouth and knocked me out with some gas, while Razor made sure I couldn't make noise by dropping my tools. I don't know how long I was under, but when I came to they'd left the armor and some of the other things I noticed, but took most of the armory that was still here. I didn't investigate much, just checked what was on the way out here."

"Well, that's a short statement," he murmured, taking it down. "They say anything before they knocked you out? Give you some kind of warning?"

"Nothing," she shook her head. "It didn't last more than few seconds."

"They're still good," Jim's partner observed.

"You're not helping much Jack," Jim muttered. "Dammit ... I'm just glad Keller's in charge, he's not as likely to have us canned as Feral was."

"Really?" Carlie cocked her head. "I thought she was pretty mellow, and very pro-SWAT."

"You're talking about Commander Felina Feral," Rackham pointed out. "Her uncle ... he'd have had us skinned for not catching them on the way in."

"I think I'm glad he's gone," she murmured as the sound of sirens came closer to them and three choppers began to sweep the area. "Wherever they've been the last five years, it hasn't made them expect a friendly welcome."

"I don't know that they're going to get one," Rackham sighed, looking up as the choppers ran their spotlights through the area. "Just have to hope they don't take offense, if they managed to grab anything we've left down there."

"If somebody isn't a lot more careful with them, we may well live to see the SWAT Kats go Omega," she shuddered. "They've put up with a lot of abuse to protect us."

"Which is why we hope and pray that Felina gets to talk to them before Commander Keller," Rackham murmured, leaning back to wait for the investigation units.

* * *

"Still," Razor hissed under his breath, mostly to Marie. T-Bone had already frozen, his gaze on the sky and the fourth pass the helicopters had made over them.

Another set of long, tense moments passed before they left, and Marie let out the breath she'd been holding.

"Okay, that is getting _really_ irritating," she murmured. "You guys find anything useful?"

"Not really. Unless you count the security codes for just about everything Enforcer," Razor said as he leaned back against the front wheel. "Right now, our best bet is to wait them out, sleep while we can, and head out in the evening to talk to who we need to."

"Sting and I have some information that may help," Blackie offered.

"Go for it," Razor grinned up at her. "What's happened in five years?"

"Most importantly, Commander Ulysses Feral was killed in action," Blackie said. "By our best estimates, shortly after Dark Kat was killed on Earth. Felina took over the Enforcers, but retired from active duty due to injuries sustained in the next two years; Commander Damian Keller is the current commanding officer, but Felina still has a great deal of influence."

"Wow," T-Bone murmured in shock. "What ... what do we know about Keller? His take on SWAT."

"There is very little on-record, but what there is indicates that he viewed SWAT as a necessary evil at the time, at least as we operated under the first Commander Feral."

"Another point," Sting piped up, "is that Mayor Manx apparently died four years ago; a Callie Briggs took over for him, and remains in office despite a very fierce election last year."

"That's _definitely_ good news... not for Manx so much, but for the city it's just about necessary," T-Bone said with a blink, now entirely stunned as he thought about how much change that meant.

"We're definitely going to want to visit her," Razor said quietly. "As Mayor, she has the power to pardon us," he gave a significant look at his partner. "It could make life a lot easier for us."

"We might even be able to stick around ... what's Omega activity like?" T-Bone asked.

"Dark Kat, missing and presumed inactive officially. We know better. Hard Drive, recruited by Enforcer Cybercrime unit. Dr. Viper, dead. Metallikats, smelted down and used in a memorial to Commander Ulysses Feral. Past Master, missing. Past Master's watch, currently in the possession of Dr. Abi Sinnian. Turmoil, still in Alkatraz. Chop Shop, presumed underground."

"That's a Hell of a list," Marie said with a blink.

"That's ... practically every Omega out there. How long ago did this happen?" T-Bone demanded.

"After Commander Ulysses Feral's death, through the current period. Dr. Viper's death was the most recent development; Commander Keller was an eye witness when the sniper team ventilated the snake's skull," Blackie said with a satisfied tone.

"How many new Omegas since we left?" Razor asked, still in something akin to shock.

"Three, all dead, or the equivalent," she answered. "Felina made a very good Commander with Mayor Briggs, and Commander Keller has kept up her record. In an interview with Kat's Eye News, he stated that with the SWAT Kats gone, it was clear that Omegas couldn't be afforded the chance to crop up again. With Manx out of the way, they've all been willing to take the steps to ensure they didn't."

"This... almost isn't MegaKat City anymore," T-Bone nearly whispered, letting it all sink in. "But in a good way, for once."

"Yeah," Razor nodded shakily.

"A communication is coming in from Miss Brigg's communicator," Blackie interrupted their thoughts.

T-Bone managed to get his hand to the button fastest.

"This is T-Bone; what is it Miss Briggs?" He asked, out of habit more than anything else; the possibility that the Enforcers might be watching for the location of a response only occurred to him _after_ he sent it.

"It's been a very long time, T-Bone," she said first. "I'd like to meet with you and Razor. A great deal has changed since you were last heard from."

Razor nodded even as T-Bone looked down at him uncertainly.

"Where, when, and can we get your word there won't be any Enforcers waiting for us?" the tabby asked. "We've been looking forward to seeing you again, but that was before we saw they'd been over the Hangar with a salvage crew."

"I am sorry for that, but we had no way of knowing when, or if, you'd be back," she said. "In half an hour, on Honor Hill? You have my word. Felina is no longer an Enforcer. It will just be the two of us there."

"Understood ... if you could direct the search from around the Yard, that'd be handy, but we can lose 'em if we have to," T-Bone said confidently, starting the TurboKat up.

"They'll be called back in the next few minutes," she promised. "Felina may not be the acting Commander anymore, but no one will question her either. See you soon," she added before clicking the link off.

"Are you two sure you can trust her?" Marie asked softly. 

"If we can't, then there's nobody else in this city we can," T-Bone pointed out. "Except _maybe_ Hackle, and I don't know if he's even alive anymore."

"His physical body died three years ago, but he was transferred to a mechanical body before that happened," Blackie offered. "Currently continuing his independent research."

"We've fought out way out of worse situations," Razor said as they all got on board. "Honor Hill _isn't_ a place any Enforcer would want to start a firefight."

"I'd kinda like to stick with that, myself," T-Bone offered. "We've got friends up there, after all."

"So Honor Hill is the Enforcer's cemetery?" Marie asked them quietly as the canopy slid forward.

"For those killed in the line of duty, and the real heroes who aren't," T-Bone nodded, a reverence and longing in his voice that few things garnered. "Not many get to be there."

"Sacred ground, like very few things are these days," Razor agreed. "If they're meeting us there, something might happen on the way, but it won't happen _while_ we're there. Not even Feral would cross that line."

"The choppers are changing to a different search grid," Blackie offered. "We'll be clear momentarily."

"Good," Razor ran through his pre-flight check, finishing just as T-Bone lifted them off the ground for the short, fast flight to the rolling hills that had once been well outside city limits, but now was a thousand acre section of green rolling hills dotted by memorials overlooking the southern bay front surrounded by city.

"It's very pretty," Marie murmured as they touched down safely, well away from any of the memorials. "I'll wait here, for now?"

"Probably best," T-Bone nodded. "Think Callie and Felina might want to meet you eventually, but that can wait until after we've talked. Razor? Ready?"

"As I'll ever be," he nodded and slid the canopy back, then jumped to the ground.

T-Bone followed him out, the cockpit sliding forward for now as they looked around and quickly spotted Callie and Felina waiting for them by one of the larger memorials some fifty yards or so off.

The blond looked good and was still in her customary pink skirt-suit, but Felina's once-powerful frame was withered on the left side. It didn't take much to realize that she was standing by virtue of a thick cane, and probably couldn't go far even with it.

T-Bone's breath caught as he saw her, and tried to figure out just what had happened to her. The first possibility that came to mind almost made him sorry that PastMaster had been permanently misplaced.

He and Razor started forward, and he tried not to dwell on it too much.

"Welcome back," Felina greeted them first, her voice steady despite the pain in the background of it. "I've missed you both."

They both saw her start to move forward, only to abort the movement when she remembered it wasn't wise anymore.

"What _happened_ ?" Razor couldn't help but make the short distance at a near sprint, and stopped himself from touching her by only the finest of margins.

"One of Dr. Viper's wasps had a nasty sting," she gave the briefest of explanations. "Docs said I had a one in a million chance of living. I might actually be walking on my own in another decade."

T-Bone almost had to literally bite his tongue to keep from asking if there might be some way for Marie to help. Better to ask _her_ first.

"I wish we could've been here," he said softly instead.

"You always were sweet, Chance," she shifted uneasily to be able to lean forward and kiss his forehead, just under the helmet's edge. "I don't know if you heard, but my uncle didn't survive his encounter with Black Lightning four years ago. Took the bastard down, but didn't make it much longer."

Callie motioned towards the large monument they were standing near. "Beyond what Felina said of Honor Hill being a place you'd believe the Enforcers wouldn't start something, I thought you might want to see it."

"We... heard, but not long ago," Chance said, pulling his helmet and mask off. If Felina wasn't going to bother with their call signs, he wasn't about to do it either, not when it was her and Callie. Besides, everybody knew already. "We've been off-world ever since we disappeared ... we were only finishing up going over some of the major news we could find when Callie called us."

"You know I am Mayor, then?" Callie asked.

"Yes, ma'am," Razor nodded, his mask and helmet still on.

"Then know that I wrote both of you full pardons shortly after taking the office," Callie said quietly. "If you want to continue SWAT, it will have to be under more official conditions."

"As of right now, you have clean records, and the fines my uncle leveled against you have been cleared as well," Felina added. "I couldn't do much more, but you are free right now."

"How long would we have to decide about SWAT?" Chance asked, looking over at Callie. "From the sound of it... I don't know if you really need us anymore, honestly. You can add Dark Kat to your list of confirmed kills... he paid us a visit, and I know it was his last one this time."

"All right," Callie nodded. "You have until you break a law to decide. You have the licenses for your gear, at least what I know of it, but you do not have the authority to not check in with or follow Aircraft Control, ignore a lawful order, cause collateral damage ... or break the sound barrier within city limits. I'd like to know in the next few weeks, if possible. There is a great deal of paperwork involved in authorizing more than I already have."

"Understood," Chance nodded. "Honestly... I think we can probably live with that. We just need to try and get settled and figure out what to do. A lot of things have changed for us too."

Callie nodded in understanding.

"Do you have a place to stay?" Felina asked them.

"We were planning on camping out for a while, talking to a few people before we moved on, honestly," Chance admitted. "You two _were_ on the list," he added. "Either way, we figured we'd need to find somewhere new to live."

"If you'd like, I still have the cottage by Silky Creek," Felina offered. "It hasn't been used in years now, but you're welcome to it. The personal effects that were taken from the salvage yard are in my car, if you'd like them back."

"We kinda would," Chance said with a slight smile. "And we'd appreciate it, for a couple weeks at least, I think," he said, glancing over at Razor.

"Yes, thank you," Razor nodded, still uneasy and watching everything for someone to decide that bagging the SWAT Kats was worth more than pissing off the two shekats. "And thank you, Miss Briggs."

"Maybe we can talk some time after we've had more of a chance to get settled?" Chance suggested. "When we could all relax a bit more ... talk things over."

"It sounds good," Felina nodded. "My driver will bring your things to the TurboKat," she motioned with standard Enforcer hand signals for 'bring' and 'there' with a motion to the jet.

"Thanks," Chance nodded, keeping an eye on the tom who got out of the dark blue sedan and opened the trunk while he gave the two shekats most of his focus. "Fel... sorry to hear about your Uncle. I know you two were close, when you could be."

"It was how he wanted it," she smiled sadly, wanting to reach out to him but unable to while keeping her balance. "It was for the best."

Chance stepped closer to her, giving her good shoulder a gentle squeeze.

"I guess," he nodded. "Fel... we've got a friend, who might be able to figure out a way to help, if you wanted her to," he said, glancing over at Razor, who nodded absently, his attention mostly on Felina's driver as he lugged a sizeable chest to the TurboKat. "If she thinks she can do anything, would you be willing to let her look at the files on what happened?"

He knew even before he finished talking that Felina was willing to risk anything for a hope of being whole again.

"If she really can help, yes," she nodded, displaying more caution than was really there.

"I can't promise, but... the things she _can_ manage are pretty incredible," Chance told her. "If she says she thinks she can do it, I think the odds are pretty good. Want to meet her, maybe tomorrow?"

"I will come by, with my records," she promised, trying to keep the excitement from her voice. "Rest, recover, I'll come by after lunch."

"We'll be ready for you," he smiled. "And even at a normal time for lunch," he winked. "We should probably be going though. Good to see you both again."

"It's good to see you alive as well," Callie stepped forward to clasp their hands, and gave Chance a kiss on the cheek. "Take care of yourselves."

"We will," he smiled, giving her a light kiss in return, and giving one to Felina before they headed back towards the jet.

"What's happened?" Marie asked as they got back, noticing the shift in mood of both of the toms.

"We've been pardoned," Razor said as they stored the chest, then leapt into the cockpit. "We have place to stay too, one with a real bed, a real bathroom and a real kitchen."

"And we might have a real job for you too," Chance said as he closed the cockpit and pulled his helmet back on.

"Okay... that's _great_ , good, good, _real_ good, nice bonus, and what's the job you're talking about?" Marie asked, running through her responses and getting to what she thought the long part would be.

"Possibly a long story; we'll fill you in on the way, and while we unpack," T-Bone promised, taking off and tipping the wing towards Felina and Callie before heading towards the edge of town.

* * *

Marie took in the simple single-story cottage with a critical eye as the TurboKat landed. It wasn't nearly large enough for the three of them for any length of time, never mind their things. Just her lab would need more space, never mind Jake's workshop. It was probably nice for a getaway, but there was nowhere to _work_ .

From her far back seat, though, she could see, nearly feel, how much it put the guys at ease. Even Razor was starting to relax. It seemed to be a place that held good memories, and not pain.

"So ... what is this place, to you guys?" She asked them curiously as they touched down and the cockpit slid open. "Seems to be a place you know well enough."

"It's Felina's getaway cottage," T-Bone said. "We spent a lot of good times here with her, and just us."

"It looks nice, for a weekend or two," Marie nodded. "You could both use some good memories, from the sound of it."

"Yeah," T-Bone agreed, climbing out. "So, let's get settled in ... been a long day." He took Razzle's cage from Marie, setting it down and helping Marie down next.

"That it has," Razor let out a long breath and finally removed his helmet and mask as they walked to the front door of the cottage. "A good one though, I think."

"For the most part," Chance nodded. "Good to know we're in the clear too, legally. That takes a real load off."

"Especially if we're going to stick around long enough for me to try and help Felina," Marie agreed.

"It'll make that a _load_ easier," Jake nodded, leaving no doubt that he'd have skinned the first one who suggest they not see her to full health. He opened the front door with a key locked inside a fingerprint-scanner locked false rock.

Both toms paused when they entered the cozy, very country-style living room with its overstuffed chairs, a fireplace meant for real wood and wooden floors covered with a few rugs.

"Remember the last time we were here?" Jake murmured softly, turning his head to nuzzle his partner's jaw as Chance wrapped his arms around him.

"Enough of it," Chance purred. "Of course, we were a little pre-occupied for most of it," he chuckled, kissing Jake's head lightly.

"The usual?" Marie chuckled.

"Not in the ways that mattered," the tabby smiled. "No SWAT, no Enforcers, no emergencies or planning, no worries except each other ... _that_ was different."

"It was nice too," Jake purred and snuggled back, the tension quickly draining from his frame.

"Why don't you check out the place while I get this one settled in front of a fire?" Chance grinned at her.

"Mmm ... have fun," she chuckled, starting off to explore as Jake relaxed and became more himself than he'd been in the last three years.

* * *

Felina Feral closed her eyes briefly against the pain that nothing could control as her driver turned the last corner before her cottage. Her exertions at the graveyard had made her condition bad enough that sleep wouldn't come, not even with all assistance doctors had prescribed for her.

It was days when she felt like this that she had to really consider her upbringing on suicide. It still rankled her to think of it as an option for herself, but she could understand the desire to be allowed to die, to end the pain that couldn't be controlled, much better now. Maybe she'd learned what she needed to and this new shekat of theirs would be able to ease the pain.

She opened her eyes when the car stopped and waited. Her driver got out and came to the back door next to her to help her out while Chance came out, likely to do the same.

She kept the sigh to herself and reminded herself firmly that it just meant he cared.

Chance, of all people, wasn't going to do things for her _just_ because she was crippled ... not if she didn't want him to. True to form, he did wait long enough to see if she was going to take the help before coming out the rest of the way.

"How can I help?" He asked her, trying to keep from wincing at the pain she was obviously in.

"If you'd take the briefcase, Jason knows how to help with walking," she nodded to touch pad and combination locked reinforced briefcase her driver had in his hand. It wasn't handcuffed to him though, as procedure expected, given the pair welded to it.

Jason hesitated, then handed it over without comment. Chance had no doubts that he had been Enforcer, likely for a several years, and wished he still was.

"Don't worry, I won't take off with it," Chance chuckled slightly, taking the case and stepping back to give them room. "Last night pretty quiet, except for us showing up?" He asked Felina.

"Yes, though I rarely hear about much less than your kind of event these days," she admitted as Jason walked on her bad side, using his mass and a bit of support with his hands when she moved her good leg to walk. She still had her cane, and in the daylight he could see it was more elegant than he had first expected. Stout hardwood with inlaid designs of snakes, horses, eagles and wind or waves took some of the apparent mass from it, and turned it from a necessary evil into an object of beauty. "You slept well?"

"When Marie let us," Chance chuckled. "She was setting up some of her gear for today, making sure it had made the trip safely. A lot better than we expected to sleep the first night back, though," he said honestly. "Not having the Enforcers tracking us down was the best tranquilizer we could've asked for, especially after finding the Hangar broken into. We expected it, but knowing that everybody knows who we are now is still a little unnerving."

"If we had not made the arrangements we had, what did you plan to do?" She asked softly, her progress to the door slow, painful and utterly determined.

"See you and Callie, maybe our folks, let them know we were alive, and then take off for Sayden Bay. Head out to the Veldt after we finished showing a few of the lead crime families what being on the receiving end of SWAT felt like. Not going to do that now," he added, looking over at her seriously.

"So you will be staying in the area?" she looked at him with some real interest as he opened the cottage door.

"Maybe," he nodded. "We're not really sure yet, honestly ... Jake's spent the last two local years planning his contingencies for when we got shot at by who," he chuckled slightly. "You know how he gets when he's in one of his moods."

"Hard to live with, but damn good at keeping you alive," she nodded with a low chuckle. "I remember. Hello, Jake."

"Hi Fel," he smiled up at her from where he was leaning against the base of an overstuffed chair in front of a crackling fire.

She smiled back, sitting down with a grateful grimace in a chair that had plenty of padding, and had been a favorite when she still came here a few times a year.

"I'll be out in a moment!" A female voice called out from one of the back rooms.

"That's Marie," Chance told her.

"Someone you met where you were?" Felina asked, mostly to keep herself distracted.

"Yep," Chance smiled. "Hell of a weird world, even compared to MKC... not as much in the way of giant monsters, but weird hang-ups enough to make up for it. Not to mention the fact that there weren't any people like us there, for the first few months."

"So not much like your other trips," she nodded slightly and focused on the alien shekat who walked into the room. Her face was completely feline, and her legs as well. Though she had to admit that if you concealed the legs with a skirt or very loose pants, the face could be passed off as Xanith influence. "You must be Marie."

"Marie Moreau-Clawson," the tabby nodded, inclining her head to Felina. "Used to be a doctor, but that probably doesn't translate here," she admitted with a slight smile. "Commander Felina Feral?"

"I was," she smiled faintly at the recognition she rarely received any more. "My current condition is too severe to command even from a desk."

"Well, there might be something I can do about that," Marie said. "Though I'll need to know a bit more about what's happened to be sure."

"I assumed as much," Felina nodded and motioned to Chance and the briefcase he was still holding. "My medical records, the research that has been done, and a small sample of the venom that did this."

"Thank you," Marie nodded, taking the briefcase. She didn't bother to hide how grateful she was for the serious head start. "While I doubt it'll make a difference to you, the odds are that whatever I do will end up hurting like you wouldn't believe ... it won't be as bad as my transformation, but repairing the damage to your nervous system ... that doesn't regrow without helping you discover entirely new ways to be uncomfortable."

"Doctor, the venom is primarily a neurotoxin. We have learned that much," Felina said with a deep sigh. "The withering of flesh is nothing compared to having every nerve in your body keyed to pain and nothing short of a spinal tap at the base of the skull can even dim it. You don't need to worry all that much about making it any worse."

"And it's lasted how long?" Marie asked, frowning as her brain worked over the obvious solutions first. "Have you checked to see if there was genetic damage caused as well? It might make a difference in how much I can do."

"Two years," she said, her eyes closing briefly at the reality. "Not that I know of. I doubt they even have an original genetic sample to find out from."

"The Enforcers would," Jake piped up. "Everyone's blood was taken when we enlisted. Saved for comparison."

Felina thought back. "True. I'm not sure if it would be of any use, but it does exist."

"If it's been kept in decent condition, it'll tell me what I need to know," Marie nodded. "How many uncomfortable questions are going to come up if you _do_ make a miraculous recovery?"

"Nothing I can't tell to fuck off," she grumbled, ignoring the shocked looks her language got from Jake and Chance. "The fact that I'm still walking like this is more shocking that if I recover from a venom that no one really understands anyway."

"Fair enough; while I'm at it, are there any other changes you'd like me to try and make?" Marie asked as she put the briefcase down and looked back at Felina.

"Changes?" Felina looked at her blankly.

"My work is genetic in nature," Marie explained, sitting down next to Jake. "I used to look a _lot_ different than this... what I'll have to do to force your body to restore its nervous system won't be that much harder if you'd want me to change anything else, like eye color or other aspects of your appearance. It might just take longer to figure out _how_ to make the relevant changes."

Marie watched calmly, at least on the outside, as confusion went to shock, then to revulsion and finally settled on an uneasy acceptance. Felina's face may have been partially paralyzed, but her expressions came across clearly.

"No, thank you," Felina managed with all the politeness she could muster from her upbringing. "I will stay with what Bastet chose for me. I'd like any kits I may have to be Ferals."

"I understand," Marie nodded easily. "I didn't intend any offense, I've just been through a massive change myself, and I know that it's a lot less painful to do it all at once, if you wanted anything else."

Felina nodded, though it wasn't much of a motion she meant it. "I likely do not know enough about genetics to understand what you are offering," she admitted. "I am content with what I was born with. I only wish to be healthy again."

"I'll do my best," Marie nodded. "On the plus side, while I'm not a neurosurgeon, I've got about the best background in the human nervous system available, and what I've seen suggests that it's not _that_ different ... I'll just need a while to figure out how to adapt my techniques to Kats."

"You've done work on them?" Felina motioned to the guys with her good hand.

"Not like this, no," she said, shaking her head. "Jake wanted me to turn him amphibious once, but back on Earth it wouldn't have worked. You mind if I take a current DNA sample?" She asked, pulling a sealed tube with a cotton swab in it out of her pocket.

"Go ahead," she extended her good arm. "I've been poked by the best and worst out there," she tried to joke weakly.

"Not much poking and prodding, unless you'd prefer that to a saliva sample," Marie explained with a smile. "Your call," she said easily, popping the lid off the tube. "Unless you're a chimera, it doesn't make a difference, and I _think_ the odds are pretty slim of that, even with kats."

"You've _got_ to be joking," Chance said, rolling his eyes slightly.

"It's the actual term," Marie said dryly. "When one twin absorbs the other during gestation, it can result in a person having two genetic patterns. Exceptionally rare, but it makes my sort of work a real hassle when I run into it."

"About one in a million to one in one and a half million among Kats and Kantin, and no, I am not one," Felina assured her. "Saliva is fine," she actually chuckled and opened her mouth to let her take what she wanted.

"Good to know ... it might be awkward, regenerating you with the wrong sample," Marie mused, taking a swab and replacing it in the tube. "You want to spend some time? It's been a while since you three have had the chance to talk a bit."

There was a decidedly awkward exchange of looks; all three had changed more than anyone had thought possible and there was some inclination to let everything go along with their past, but eventually Jake shook his head first.

"I think so," Felina nodded, a statement that sent her driver outside without further instruction. "Dr. Moreau-Clawson, you will find the contact information for the lead doctor in the study and my personal physician. They have both been instructed to give you _any_ assistance you request."

"Including the things that would make them think I'm a high-school biology student, not a doctor, I hope?" Marie asked with a slight chuckle.

"Quite clearly," she nodded firmly with a look that said everything Marie needed to know about just how much trouble they'd be in if they didn't. "Though it would not hurt to have Jake give you a tour of the MKCU library. I understand it has the very latest editions and does train to the doctorate level."

"I doubt they've changed so much in five years that I can't get the right card to let you check things out," Jake grinned mischievously. "Especially if the head librarian is still Miss Chambers."

"Was it _ever_ somebody else?" Chance snickered.

"Not in the last century," Felina chuckled weakly. "She's been there since my Uncle's father went there."

Marie chuckled and left the three of them to talk as she headed out of the room towards her makeshift lab. It would at least let her start analyzing Felina's sample, see if there was anything blatantly wrong in it compared to Jake's and Chance's.

Besides ... she had a feeling that they'd be fine on their own for a while.


	30. Founding a Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Three months after arriving home, Jake gets the opportunity of his lifetime.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written with Karl Wolfemann

"I can not wait until the new house is built," Marie sighed as she struggled to work advanced genetics inside the old farmhouse that had been on the property they'd finally decided to buy. It suited them all, was perfect for none, and needed a lot of work to bring it up to their specs.

"I know what you mean," Chance nodded slightly. "But at least there's plenty of space for Jake to work... and we _did_ manage to get a room sealed off well enough for your work," he offered.

"Yeah, but I spend the entire time in there feeling like if I move wrong I'll end up screwing something up," she muttered. "It's not your fault, just what you get for living somewhere they _don't_ include clean rooms in the standard blueprints."

"We _did_ warn you," he chuckled. "So ... why don't you reach a point you can take a break for a bit?"

She glanced up with an amused look. "Food or Jake?"

"Your call, though there's something to be said for both," Chance winked, leaning down to kiss her head lightly. "Especially if it's a Jake sandwich."

"I like that idea," she purred deeply and made very quick work of getting to a stopping point. "Let's go fetch him."

"I thought you would," Chance rumbled. "So, how's the work going?"

"Fairly well, given the conditions," Marie smiled as she stood and they headed into the main room of the farmhouse on the way to the back where Jake could usually be found when he wasn't overseeing the construction of the large researcher-mechanic home on the far side of the pond and garden. "Felina is responding well, though it will still be months before she is fit enough to go off medical leave."

"Hey, she'd been talking about _maybe_ walking unassisted in 10 years," Chance pointed out. "I know she's happy with the progress she's making." They started back, then somebody rapped on the door with short, sharp, staccato knocks.

"Of all the timing for a delivery," Chance grumbled, turning to head to the door. "You order something?"

"Nothing I expected to come today," she said with a curious look and followed him. Just a brief glance at the tom on the other side of the door told her all she needed to know about their visitor. This was a high-power recruiter to talk to Jake.

"Hello," the tuxedo-marked tom said politely. "Chance Furlong?" He asked, offering his hand to the tabby. "I'd like to speak with you and your partner, Jake Clawson, if you've got a few moments? My name is Frank Richter; I represent Pumadyne Corporation."

"And you want to talk to _both_ of us?" Chance asked, raising an eyebrow and shaking his hand.

"Of course; we have business to discuss with both of you, and possibly with Dr. Moreau-Clawson if you'd be interested," he said with a nod towards her.

"Should I get Jake?" Marie asked, returning the polite gesture briefly before asking Chance.

"Yeah, probably," he nodded slightly. "Come on in, but no promises about whether or not Jake'll want to talk to you."

"I understand that our initial call didn't go well," Frank admitted. "But I wanted to take the chance to present you _all_ with our offer, in person, where I could explain it better."

"All right," Chance stepped side and motioned him inside. "Have a seat. It might be a few minutes if he's up at the new house."

"I'm willing to wait," Frank chuckled, taking a seat and looking over at Chance. "Would you be interested in hearing the first part of it, until he gets here?"

"Why not," Chance shrugged and sat down. He wasn't about to trust this guy, but a lot could happen to a company in twenty years.

"The long and the short of it is that we're not _just_ looking to try and recruit Jake," Frank explained. "Pumadyne has numerous interests; while our interest in having Razor on our payroll is obvious, we could use T-Bone as well. You'd have options as a test pilot, demonstration pilot ... we could use your insight into jet designs, and while Omega activity _has_ quieted down, a pilot with your skills to take down any projects of ours that go wandering if Hard Drive relapses or the Metallikats had backups would be invaluable."

"Which can be said for the other dozen companies that have come calling," Chance pointed out evenly. "You may be one of the biggest, but it doesn't put you in the lead."

"You're telling me that being one of the lead test pilots for the Enforcer's biggest supplier doesn't have any appeal to you?" Frank asked him seriously.

"You _know_ that's not what I'm telling you," Chance pointed out, rolling his eyes slightly. "But Pumadyne doesn't have a monopoly on the industry, not even on Enforcer projects. There _are_ other games in town."

"Oh, I understand that," Frank nodded. "But we're prepared to make some _very_ attractive offers that most of our competitors couldn't. For Jake and Chance, or for Razor and T-Bone."

Chance considered the tom across from him and leaned forward. "For what I owe Pumadyne, I'll clue you in to what you're up against and we'll be even for good. You're who led the blacklisting of one Jake Clawson about twenty years ago. Now, we both know how much _I_ profited from that dumbass move, but the guy I follow, he didn't take it so well."

The utter shock on Frank's face told him that that particular piece of information _wasn't_ generally known. Not that that surprised Chance very much.

"If anybody on Pumadyne's leadership team knew who was responsible for that, they'd have his head on a platter," the tuxedo tom said, though he was definitely shaken by the revelation. "There hasn't been a concerted effort by the _company_ to blacklist _anybody_ who wasn't guilty of corporate espionage or gross negligence in over forty years."

"Well somebody sure did, and stole his designs while they were at it," Chance added to Frank's distress. "That Katerwal you build, that's still your top stunt plane seller? He did that at eighteen, and used it in his interview. Next thing he knew no one would talk to him, and the next year he saw it flying as a Pumadyne prototype."

"That's... this is just... I had no idea, nobody at the _company_ has any idea," Frank protested, his tail fluffed fully as he realized what he'd been sent out to do. If the CEO knew about this, he could well be trying to get him killed. "I wasn't around when that design came to us, but if anybody knew this would have never happened, the liability...."

"Jake'll probably give you the guy's name, if you ask nicely," Chance offered as a side door opened to admit Marie and Jake.

The tabby had to wonder if, just maybe, it hadn't been a good idea to tell Frank about that. While it was probably a lot easier for everybody in the long run... the recruiter was _definitely_ not as confident as he had seemed at first. Quite the contrary, he looked just as shaken as he probably should have looked, given what he had to try and talk Jake into overlooking.

"Mister Clawson," Frank said, standing and extending his hand towards the lean, cinnamon tom, trying to get back on his game.

Jake accepted the handshake as he sized up the recruiter, then glanced at Chance with a raised eyebrow as they parted.

"We've talked," Chance shrugged slightly, making room for Jake next to him on the couch.

"Err... yes," Frank admitted. "I'd like to say, first, that I had no idea that you had that sort of history with Pumadyne... I have no idea how that managed to happen."

"Corruption," Jake shrugged like it was nothing, though he was still clearly somewhat bitter. "I take it you're from Pumadyne, then."

"I thought you'd been told... yes, I am," he nodded slightly. "I wanted the chance to talk to you and Chance in person, instead of just over the phone; it's so much easier to handle questions face to face."

"True," Jake nodded and leaned forward, his arms resting on his knees. "I expect you can guess what my first question is going to be."

"What was his name?" Frank asked as he got his PDA out.

"James Witkan," Jake supplied quietly, his interest on the PDA even as he slid a hand onto the electronic bracer he worn now instead of a glovatrix.

"Officially, he retired eight years ago," Frank said as he skimmed the personnel entry. "Manager notes indicate that he was given a choice between retirement or being fired. That would have been when our current CEO took power. He did quite a sweep of personnel. Middle management and the recruitment offices were hit the hardest," he looked up at Jake, now knowing what had happened as times and events fell into place. "Mr. Witkan wasn't big enough for me to remember, but he was caught in the anti-corruption policies put into place."

Jake cocked his head and glanced down at his shirt-covered forearm. "Humph, who would have thought it, a recruiter telling the truth," he looked up at Frank. "Though I must say I'm impressed Pumadyne sent a VP to talk to me. Only one company's done better."

"I've been authorized to make just about any offer you might be interested in, even without my boss here," Frank pointed out. "Besides, my boss isn't necessarily all _that_ good with people," he chuckled slightly. "Would you like to hear what I've got to offer you?"

"How about I tell you what I already have on the table?" Jake suggested with a serious expression. "'Cause it's what you'll have to beat."

"I can work with that too," the tuxedo tom nodded, leaning back in his seat.

"Fifty percent ownership," Jake said evenly.

"Of?" Frank asked, not letting any sign of shock show.

"The company," Jake leveled his gaze at him. "Enough to shut down anything I don't like from happening."

"I meant of what company," Frank explained. "We're a much larger company than even our closest competitors, and we could give you a large degree of autonomy and control, if that's what appeals to you."

"What appeals to me is enjoying my time," Jake smiled slightly. "That generally includes not being worried about what will be done with my designs. Autonomy isn't the issue. Control of the bigger picture is."

"To some extent that can be handled... there is a responsibility to our shareholders, of course, but most designs _are_ used for what they were designed for... they tend to work better that way."

"Okay, let's see if you get it this way," Jake shook his head. "The technology edge I don't care about. The publicity I don't care about. The distribution net I don't care about. The paycheck I don't care about. Care to suggest something you might have I would care about?"

"Vindication; proof, to anybody in the industry, that what happened to you back then _was_ an example of corruption, that you were blacklisted from the industry wrongly," Frank tried. "I'm also not _just_ here to talk to you; we plan to extend offers to your mates as well, and I imagine that working along with them, particularly Chance," he said with a nod towards the tabby, "has its appeal?"

"Vindication, what do you think my public record is?" Jake chuckled. "I am Razor of the SWAT Kats. It's for all to see now. No industry record will top that."

"Me, I've got the best job in the world," Chance chuckled softly. "I get to fly his creations."

"You don't have a technological edge to offer me," Marie told him. "I brought my equipment from home, and once the new house is built, it will have the best genetic lab on the planet unless I decided to start building giant whatsits... and frankly, I think that if you've got a lab for that, you're in bigger trouble than I would be if I _was_ interested in it."

"So what _would_ interest you, any of you?" Frank asked them, looking between the three of them, hoping for anything useful.

"Nothing you have to offer," Jake told him simply, nearly in chorus with his mates. "I'm looking forward to a relatively quiet life building modern marvels out of junk," he added for himself.

"Which is your cue to head out, probably," Chance said, standing up and heading for the door. "Talk to 'em about that jerk who 'retired;' they oughta know what he really cost 'em, on top of what they already knew about."

"I will," Frank promised grimly and left them, his car starting shortly after the door closed.

"Well, that was fun," Jake grinned and leaned back on the couch.

"Mmm ... so, how does it feel to tell Pumadyne they can shove it?" Chance asked with a grin, returning to the couch and wrapping an arm around Jake's shoulder.

"Pretty good," he purred and curled in against his mate to nuzzle him. "Not as much as I'd have like it a few years ago, but still pretty damn good."

"Mmm ... I wonder what he'd have said if we told him we'd all _quit_ jobs at a company that makes Pumadyne look small," Marie giggled. "And let's face it ... Global's at _least_ their equal, from what I've seen."

"As far as there can be comparisons between our worlds," Jake nodded in agreement, though his main attention was on Chance and coaxing the big tom into enough arousal that he wouldn't feel like talking anymore. "Global has significantly more power worldwide, Pumadyne has more power in it's country."

"Mmm ... so, did Marie tell you about our plans for lunch before you came in?" Chance grinned and got a kiss before Jake snaked his tongue into his mate's mouth.

"Mmmm, yummy," Marie grinned and pressed against Jake's back. "But you're facing the wrong way."

"Oh, I don't know," Jake purred. "I think it could be fun if I got to ride him while he ate you out."

"Mmm... for the first round, sure," she giggled, scritching his back before starting to peel her blouse off her body.

"Hey, don't I get a vote here?" Chance pouted, or at least tried to… it was hard to pout with a grin though.

"Sure, what's the objection?" Jake grinned at him while fondling the tabby's crotch. "He sure doesn't seem to mind," he purred, playing a finger up the hard length of his mate's cock, still locked behind his jeans.

"Mmm ... I'm not objecting, I just want a promise that we get the other one too, later," Chance grinned, leaning over to kiss him deeply, unbuttoning Jake's shirt as three sets up hands worked to make undressing a very short and tactile experience.

"Good," Jake pulled him in for a heated kiss that soon sapped all interest in anything else from his mate. At least until Jake's fingers cupped his balls and began to caress them, sliding them between his fingers. "'Cause the idea of riding your hard cock while I make out with her is _really_ hot for me."

"Mmm ... bet we can manage hotter before we're done," Chance purred with a lusty grin, kissing Jake hotly, fondling his sheath as Marie moaned and guided her husband's hand back to her hot sex.

"Sure we can," Jake moaned and melted into the contact, turned on at least as much by the feel of his mates' bodies in his fingers as by their hands on him. He shivered with a low whimper in Chance's mouth as he slid a finger inside Marie's body and felt her squeeze down on it, milking it eagerly.

She bit down on the scruff of his neck lightly, reaching around to scratch his chest as Jake fondled Chance's balls and coaxed his shaft to full hardness.

"Want inside you," Chance groaned, gripping Jake's hips possessively and popping his claws out into the lean tom's ass.

"Oh yeah," Jake shuddered with another moan.

"Then lay down, big boy," Marie panted, her body already well and truly keyed up by her husband's efforts. "I know your tongue's pretty good too."

Chance laid back with a grin, shifting between Jakes legs and pulling the lean tom down onto his shaft with a heated groan. Marie straddled his face, purring hotly as she kissed Jake and Chance's tongue started working her slick, hot sex, already quivering from Jake's efforts.

"Oh yeah," Jake moaned into her mouth, relishing in being stretched and full as her arousal and intoxicating personal scent saturated his reality. "Love you both."

"Love you too," Marie moaned, wrapping her arms around him as they settled in to take advantage of what was left of the afternoon.


End file.
